Bent Apple

The bent apple: the round bowl with the bit brought home

What a bent apple is — an apple bowl on a curved shank — and the navy lattice 356/23 from the 2023 archive.

Where it comes from

Bending an apple is as old as bending any briar: once stems were vulcanite and shanks could take a curve, factories offered the same round bowl with the bit closer to the bowl so the pipe hung. English and French lists called it a bent apple; Danes later exaggerated the curve. It is not a new shape. It is the apple in a different posture.

Asikyan Bent Apple 356/23, Art rusticated, double wall
Bent Apple 356/23 · Art rusticated, double wall

The specification

Bowl: the same sphere as a straight apple. Shank: curved, usually a three-quarter or full bend. Stem: follows the curve; often a saddle or a taper cut to the bit. The airway is longer. Weight sits more in the hand than on the teeth. 356/23 is the bent apple in this cabinet: art-rusticated double wall, navy lattice cage, Cumberland stem, engraved silver band. No millimetre card on that plate.

Next to a half-bent

392/24 is filed as a half-bent apple — less curve, still a round bowl. 356/23 leans further. If you want the apple and less weight on the teeth, these two are the comparison, not the straight 423/24.

From the cabinet

Pipes in this note