Smooth Bulldog with Antique Whale Tooth Tobacco Pipe

Jens "Tao" Nielsen was a sailor first, then spent time in the military before turning to pipe making and an apprenticeship with Erik Nørding. Now, with over 50 years of experience in the industry, Tao has his own unique style, leaning heavily on his Danish design roots, but with an often stout, highly functional penchant. His pieces are in high demand worldwide due to his precise shaping and attention to detail, with this Nosewarmer Bulldog being an excellent example of his work.

Measuring less than four and a half inches long, this Bulldog is a compact take on the classic form, its reserved footprint belying its muscular build and bold, expressive outline. Sharp ridgelines and firm panels define this piece's silhouette, with the diamond shank's structural frame extending through the bowl's heel and introducing a geometric angularity to the otherwise supple bowl. Said bowl boasts paneled lower flanks that add further definition to the shape's walls. Twin beadlines accentuate the bowl's wide waistline and demarcate the domed rim from the rest of the composition's architectural aspects. A warm smooth finish dresses the ensemble and highlights impeccable flame grain and birdseye throughout the stummel. Additionally, lopsided bands of acrylic and antique whale tooth* accent the cumberland stem and provide subtle visual flourish to a design already packed with fine details.

*While the harvesting of whales is most often thought of in terms of the once widespread whaling industry, small-scale, localized whale hunts have been central to Faroese life since the North Atlantic islands were settled by the Norse, circa 800 A.D. With a climate and soil wholly unsuited to supporting life by farming crops, those who lived on the Faroe Islands learned to subsist upon pilot whale, sheep, seabirds, and fish. The rich meat and blubber of the pilot whale was (and still is) the most important, the annual catch to this day being divided communally then stored, prepared or preserved in Faorese households (in other words, you won't find it in a Faroe Islands supermarket, nor do they export any of it).