Smooth Acorn with Masur Birch Tobacco Pipe

This bent Acorn could be seen as something of a departure from Kent Rasmussen's more characteristically sculptural fare, though in some ways, it isn't. It is, first and foremost, an elegant, Danish rendition of the bent Acorn, well-poised and inflated of bowl, and sporting an unbroken sense of flow from bit to rim. Kent has managed to impart a sculptural disposition to the shape, however, making fine use of a flared, Ivarsson-esque shank to achieve a sense of flicking gesture, and further reinforcing the visual impression of forward motion.

The aforementioned shank isn't one of the teardrop variety we're so used to seeing, however, though it does possess an asymmetrical disposition, giving way to a more distinct ridge on the right flank, the likes of which continue through to the bowl, terminating at the rim with a delicate swirl. The resulting silhouette, when viewed from above, however, does evoke the look of a teardrop, leading me to wonder if Kent was simply using sculptural cues to flip the convention on its head a bit, and pay a little homage to Sixten in the process. Teardrop bowl, anyone?