Tao: Smooth Asymmetric Bent Apple with Silver Tobacco Pipe

An artisan pipe maker in Svendborg, Denmark, Jens "Tao" Nielsen first entered the world of pipes as an assistant at Wilhelm Jørgensen's tobacco shop located on Copenhagen's famous Strøget street — the same street that once featured Sixten Ivarsson's, S. Bang's, and W.Ø. Larsen's workshops. Through Nielsen's several years of selling pipes, he met Erik Nørding, who offered him an apprenticeship learning how to actually make pipes instead of merely selling them. Nielsen worked under Nørding for two years, honing the fundamentals of the craft before encountering Poul Ilsted, and the duo of Nielsen and Ilsted established their own pipe-making workshop. They acquired an old, abandoned pipe factory in Svendborg, and in 1970 began fashiong pipes under the Svendborg name. At the workshop's height, it employed 17 people, but eventually closed when Ilsted and Nielsen decided to fashion pipes under their individual names, having established the requisite skills to make artisan pipes. Today, Tao continues to craft premium smoking instruments, entirely handmade and with aesthetics often informed by his years a sailor: stout, compact designs primed for practicality and lacking nothing in regards to aesthetic beauty.

This bent Apple exemplifies Tao's signature style, measuring in at five inches in length and marked by considerable substance. Comfortably bent, the pipe's mass is neatly balanced for hands-free smoking, and the bowl offers asymmetrical shaping that aligns beautifully with the briar's natural grain: A band of vertical grain wraps the bowl, and it rises higher along the left side, which Tao has shaped accordingly. Balancing this asymmetry, the stem curves slightly to the left as well, with the shoulders of the base angled in unison for compositional coherence. Hand-cut from cumberland, the stem's brindled hues match well with the briar's natural, virgin finish, while a silver accent band adds vibrant flash and chic elegance.