Smooth Bent Bulldog Tobacco Pipe

Though the classic English/French Bulldog is a shape of firm nature, the pipe makers and designers of the Danish school have never had much trouble making lovely ones adapted to a smoother, more fluid style. (An early, obvious example would be the Stanwell "32" shape, originally designed by Poul Stanwell himself way back in the 1950s). Here Hans "Former" Nielsen tackles the old classic with aplomb, creating something that is very clearly Bulldog, but also just as clearly supremely easy and smooth of gesture of line, even despite the addition of greater, perfectly upright height up front and a crisp saddle stem out back — neither of which are details that should have made the task itself any easier.

- Eric N. Squires