Sandblasted Paneled Lovat with Boxwood Tobacco Pipe

Henri Sørensen works out of the small town of Rørup on the Danish island Fyn and was originally a glazier by trade, though came into the craft of pipe making as a smoker alongside his brother. As the two continued on their journey into the pipe world, Henri took on the challenge of making their own pipes, eventually apprenticing under Jens "Tao" Nielsen. Further training under Tom Eltang and Lasse Skovgaard saw Henri begin to craft pipes under his own name, taking inspiration from his mentors as well as iconic Danish masters, like the late Poul Ilsted, while developing an aesthetic all his own.

This paneled Lovat is one of the pieces within Sørensen's portfolio that instantly reminds me of the work of Poul Ilsted, not simply for its impressively crisp faceting work, but for its overall look, shape, and palette. A wide transition gives way to a lengthy, round shank that takes on an incredibly bare taper to the end, where it meets an amber acrylic saddle stem at a boxwood-accented junction. The entire shank and the base of the stem have been carved to showcase hexagonal paneling, with six ridges flowing throughout, the bottom three continuing into the bowl. These three lower ridges additionally define aspects of the bowl's construction, with the lowermost outlining the heel and continuing into the fore wall, while the flanking pair push out through the transition and curl up to define an additional pair of ridges on the aft side of the bowl. Said bowl is surrounded by its own sextet of ridges, contrasting the suppleness of its outline remarkably and highlighting the walls' plump taper to the rim. Dressed in a crisp, inky sandblast, the stummel showcases dense bands of rippling growth rings cascading down the briar, while the boxwood accent and amber-toned stem offer rich contrast.