Smooth Long Shanked Acorn with Boxwood Tobacco Pipe

A former molecular biologist, Peter Heding became fascinated with pipe making after seeing an interview with the legendary Anne Julie. His interest piqued, Heding sought out Tom Eltang, who took the young Heding under his wing and taught him the fundamentals of the craft. During his two years of study with Eltang, Heding took the pipes he had crafted to the Chicago Pipe Show in 2004 and 2005. Pleased with the reception his work had garnered, Heding eventually quit his research position and took on pipe-making full-time.

This long-shanked Acorn is a sinuous take on the traditional form, offering a pronounced curvature through its aft side that keeps the form looking gestural in silhouette. Up front, the shape offers a demure, softly contoured bowl with a lifted heel and a rounded rim. The aforementioned heel thrusts the bowl up and outward into visual prominence and lends further dynamism to the shape. The briar's consistent undercurve unifies the two ends of the stummel and gives the shape a cohesive appearance, despite the bowl and shank's opposing trajectories. An auburn smooth finish dresses the stummel and highlights striking flame grain about the bowl, while an accent of boxwood adorns the junction and ties the shape together with a touch of vibrant color.