Tonni Nielsen: Spot Carved Tulip (Viking) Tobacco Pipe

Starting his pipe-making career at the age of 16, Tonni Nielsen has had one of the best introductions to the art form that a person could ask for, especially when paired with his learning at the hands of Hans "Former" Nielsen and Teddy Knudsen, all while working at the W. Ø. Larsen workshop. After nearly ten years with Larsen, Tonni struck out on his own, making pipes that bore his name and selling them around the world before, in 1983, he moved to the United States with his wife, continuing to carve artisan pipes of his own make.

The Tulip shape is one seldom crafted by Nielsen, and in our site's history, we've only ever seen a handful of the artisan's interpretations of the profile. This particular take on the silhouette stands out not just among the others that Nielsen has made, but even those carved by other pipe makers, being an extremely low-slung, highly organic piece that makes good use of negative space. Much of this negative space is present at the junction, where the shank flares out gently from its wide transition to meet a demurely curved saddle stem of black vulcanite, the pair forming an unaccented push mount that makes for quick and easy disassembly. The shank face is slightly domed after the end reaches its broadest point, and it lifts subtly to meet the stem, with the stem's expansion ring-fitted base creating an area of intrigue to which the eye is drawn: mirroring the flare of the shank nicely. The expansion ring is actually shaped with a single, extremely understated beadline wrapping around it, an extremely subdued shaping detail that further emphasizes the negative space at the junction point. The bowl here expands out of the transition and pushes out expressively to urge forward, making for an active stance that makes the soft contours of its walls take on a subdued musculature. The bowl features a high-set waistline and a rounded, domed travel to the rim that's reminiscent of the Acorn, the left flank marked by a broad patch of craggy plateau that's stylistically matched by a field of spot carving on the right side. The rest of the briar showcases a warm, rich stain, unveiling a wealth of handsome grain throughout the composition.