Smooth Pot with Horn Tobacco Pipe

Tom Eltang's many talents speak to a man of great experience, one who has worked with some of the foremost names in Danish pipe making, all of which is exactly the case with the respected artisan. At 16, Eltang apprenticed under Anne Julie before repairing pipes for Pipe-Dan, and then touring Europe for Stanwell, demonstrating pipe making at events in tobacco shops. During this time, Eltang's eye for shaping, sense of pipe function, and his own personal style evolved, and, when he finally decided to make pipes on his own, he attained a reputation for crafting fine smoking instruments, such as this Pot.

This is quite the intriguing variation of the Pot shape from the legendary Danish artisan, and one that fuses both its namesake and the Lumberman, creating a truly handsome profile that stands out among many of the other Pots I've personally encountered. A wide transition here gives way to a lengthy, ovoid shank that reaches out to meet a sleek saddle stem of jet-black vulcanite, its base accented with a broad band of pale horn. Not only does this combination evoke the Lumberman immediately, it pushes a touch more of the visual weight onto the bowl in profile, though its more muscular look from the smoker's perspective affords this pipe a versatile character. Up front, the bowl stands atop a rounded heel and grows thick walls which curve upward toward a low-set waist, continuing their arc to form a gentle taper up to the softly domed rim. The bowl is possessed of a supple, bulb-like quality that keeps it extremely comfortable in the hand, and it additionally takes on pronounced forward cant which affords the pipe an understated dynamism. Dressed in a warm, sienna-hued contrast stain, the stummel here is wrapped with flame grain throughout its circumference, while the top and underside are both awash with dense birdseye.