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HJ-24-007

Price: € 4000
HJ-24-007
HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007 HJ-24-007
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About the Item

 

CHARMING WORK OF ART-SMOOTH ANGEL SMOKING PIPE KIT

 

You are seeing a masterpiece of the American pipe maker Bender "Smooth Angel Smoking Pipe Kit".  This jewellery work of art includes:

 

- Angel Smoking Pipe

- Tamper

- Aerator

- Pipe stand

 

An angel is a supernatural being or spirit found in various religions and mythologies. In Zoroastrianism and Abrahamic religions they are often depicted as benevolent celestial beings who act as intermediaries between heaven and earth. Some times they are referred as guardian spirits and sometimes guiding influence. Other roles of angels include protecting and guiding human beings, and carrying out God's tasks. The term "Angel" has also been expanded to various notions of spirits found in many other religious traditions. 

 

In art, angels are often depicted with bird-like wings on their back, a halo, robes and various forms of glowing light. Angels have appeared in works of art for millennia. Angel-shaped beings appear in ancient Mesopotamian and Greek art and were probably the inspiration for the popular Christian image of angels, a popular subject for Byzantine and European paintings and sculpture. Angels are usually intended to be beautiful, tought several depictions attempt for more awesome/frightening attributes, notably in the depiction of the living creatures, ophanim and cherubim. Many angels in art may appear to the modern eye to be gendered in both male and female covered with their dress and some times by their actions, but untill 19th centuries, even the most female looking will normally lack breastes, and the figures should normally be considered as genderless.

 

With this background we back to this brilliant item. The "Angel" is carved from an old and big root of briar. The Angel pipe depicts a divine winged beings; a celestial creature that drifts above a craggy landscape to deliver an orb.  This project was a rewarding endavor, consuming a 170+ hours. Although largely inspired by meerschaum figurine pipes, this brilliant composition attempts to exchange the classical and traditional dynamic. rather than a pipe featuring a figure, the artisan sought to make a figure featuring a pipe. Thusly the Angel is carrying an orb giving her much more narrative and further implicating her into the mechanics of the pipe.

 

" I wanted to illustrate the Angel giving the viewer some divine object, that when smoked takes on new meaning, suggesting that the Angel is burning incense and also holding a smoldering orb of tobacco" the artisan said. 

 

The stand that she hovers above is made of maple burl, stained black to add contrast to the piece. The organic contours make it a rather mysterious and dark environment that she must ascend, probably to deliver the orb and also to provide a disparity to darkness. The tamper in this set of tools is made of briar, which midly carries over the black burl theme of the stand. The aerator tool is carved to look like a loose Angel feather, suspended upright not unlike the feather of truth.  

 

As the whole this kit communicates at theme of contrast, but also other-worldly objects. The Angel pipe kit is an artwork can symbolize many things to different viewers, manna from heaven, ambrosia from the Gods, and in the other hand, simply tobacco from an Angel.  

 

About the Artist

 

Twenty-one year old Dan Bender is an American pipe carver. He was born and raised in Oregon and lives there now in rural Scio. Making custom and detailed briar pipes is his specialty. His passion for carving and love for art inspires his unique designs. Dan welcomes the challenge of personalized and unconventional pipe designs. Like most pipe-makers he enjoys the comforts of pipe smoking.

 

Dan first started making pipes when he was seventeen, in the fall of 2011. His fascination with wood-working turned to pipe-making when he held one for the first time. It was a plain Dublin that captivated him and stirred his interest. The functionality of the smoking pipe challenged him to test his skills. Starting from simple cherry wood he made many beginner pipes. It wasn’t until he discovered the uncanny nature of briar wood that he devoted his talent. He had grown a healthy obsession for pipes even before ever smoking a pipe. The ingenuity of the pipe itself was enough to enamor him.

 

As a child of the internet he spent many weeks combing through websites, studying artists, and admiring his favorite pipe shapes. He soiled many sketchbooks with designs and shapes. Dan’s Grandmother Christine Wechensky, was a talented wood carver that guided him in the arts. She armed him with tools and taught him techniques for wood working. Christine’s carvings had inspired Dan to make artistic pipes built around functionality. With her guidance he continues to bring to life many works art.

 

One of Dan’s works is the Angel pipe carved from briar. It depicts a divine winged being holding orb. The Angel floats above a stand made from maple burl where the tamper and tools can be found as well. He chose this design to illustrate a narrative that is completed in the act of smoking. Like the manna from the heaven; the Angel brings the smoker the gift of a smoldering orb. In truth the orb is whatever the viewer wants to in interpret it as, but pipe smokers will tell you the gift she bears is tobacco itself.