Smooth Bent Stack Tobacco Pipe

When I first saw a photo of this Eltang I was expecting it to be a tiny pipe. It is not. What it is, is one of those cases where an artisan did such a fine job of making a shape lithe and light of line, and willowy of proportions, that a mere photo can easily trick your brain into assuming it's going to be something roughly the size and weight of one of the smaller species of sparrow. I can see two good reasons at least why Tom may have chosen to render this supple Acorn-Stack in the longer and taller scale that he did. The first is practical: it has allowed for a lot of depth of chamber, which means more time with every smoke to make a good excuse for just sitting there ogling this beautiful thing. The second complements perfectly the practical reason: the briar he chose for this pipe has the kind of flame grain I can't see Tom wanting to waste a fraction of an inch of.

- Eric N. Squires