Tao: Smooth Natural Bent Bulldog Tobacco Pipe

Before devoting his life to pipe making, Jens "Tao" Nielsen spent years as a sailor, and such experience informed a distinctive design aesthetic for his pipes. The Danish carver most often fashions compact, muscular Nosewarmers that combine stunning aesthetics with immediate practicality — their abbreviated size and hearty substance suited for the rigors and limited space of a life at sea. Among such Nosewarmers, the Bulldog is most ubiquitous across Tao's portfolio, yet bent renditions are decidedly more rare from him than straight versions.

This particular bent Bulldog exemplifies Tao's signature design style with plump curves, robust strength, and a blending of firm and soft lines that, while seemingly disparate, merge seamlessly for a composition that embodies stolid structure as well as elegant class. The form's characteristic paneled shank initiates the design's firm demeanor with stout proportions that continue through the bowl. Unlike the faceted shank, though, the bowl is much softer and of more rounded design, the shank's lower panels dissipating at the heel and the bowl rising upward into a domed, almost Acorn-like rim. The Bulldog's twin beadlines offer the only hint of crispness about the bowl, and they echo the shank's rigidity to maintain a cohesive aesthetic throughout the composition.

Meanwhile, the abbreviated saddle stem continues the shank's structured construction through the base, and it flares outward slightly for a hint of flourishing line work before reducing suddenly and curling down toward the button. Tao often uses cumberland for his pipe stems, and that brindled material is showcased here, hand-cut for optimal smoking comfort and accented regally with a section of amberoid to contrast the warm tones of the vulcanite and complement the stummel's natural hue. Such a color palette is thanks to natural, unstained briar, waxed only for sheen and definition of immaculate grain, and the stummel will darken as this pipe is smoked, accruing a rich patina over the years.