Nording Handmade Grade 17 Smooth Apple Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

Nørding was founded by Erik Nørding in the 1960s, and is one of the oldest remaining companies to come out of the Scandinavian pipe-making renaissance that began in the mid-20th century. Now in his 80s, Erik Nørding is one of the most experienced and skilled pipe-makers in the world, and over the decades he has also been a teacher of other Danish masters, such as Poul Ilsted, Svend Axel Celius, Jens Tao Nielsen, Peder Jeppesen, and Søren Erik Andersen.

While Nørding is today most famous for his Freehand lines, the Hand Made line represents the highest grade pipes Nørding offers, and are made exclusively by Erik himself. These pipes are graded from 11 to 20, with 20 being the highest. This one, a grade 17, is a great representation of Erik’s pipe-making abilities, but it’s also very different from what I’m used to seeing from him. While Erik’s handmades—from his early output in the SON partnership, through his ascendance in the 1970s and ’80s, right up to contemporary pieces—have tended to be bold, broad, and very “Danish” in their design, this one is far more classical. It is, after all, a quite traditional bent apple, with a long, slender shank and stem reminiscent of the early, swan-neck briars, the most famous of which being the Dunhill LC. One key difference is that this pipe was hand-shaped the Scandinavian way, affording a more spherical bowl and its marvelously consistent flame grain patterns, and another is that the pairing of the apple bowl with a shank and stem like this one is far less typical of traditional pipes and closer to the neo-traditional style of early Danish handmades, as well as later German creations, such as those of Karlheinz Joura or Paul Becker. However one chooses to read it, though, it’s a lovely pipe, elevated even further by the choice of a light brown stain and a perfectly complementary cumberland stem.

-J.M.

 

The condition is great. Some very minor inner rim darkening.

 

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.94 / 23.87mm

Bowl Depth: 1.58″ / 40.13mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g