Ben Wade Danish Pride Partially Sandblasted Freehand Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates [SOLD OUT]

Description

While Ben Wade was a historic British pipe brand, for a time during the 1970s, production of Ben Wade pipes was contracted out to one of Danish pipe-making’s superstars: Preben Holm. Though he would tragically pass away at the age of 42, Holm was one of the pioneering figures in the ‘Danish design’ movement in 20th century pipe-making, a movement that still dominates the high-grade pipe scene. By hand-shaping his pipes on a belt sander, Holm was able to make the most of the patterns of grain hidden within briar, creating spectacular works of pipe art that looked just as well as they smoked. Owing to Holm’s untimely passing, his pipes are even more highly sought after than they were during his lifetime.

While Holm’s pipes were generally large, this Ben Wade is larger than I’m used to seeing from the brand’s Danish production. But that isn’t the only distinct feature of this pipe. While Danish ‘freehand’ pipes would often include the gnarled outer plateau of a briar block in the pipe’s design, this would normally mean orienting the plateau at the rim. Instead, this pipe was made by inverting that convention and having the bare plateau at the base of the bowl. It seems to have turned out quite marvelously, creating a sitter with real character. Added to this is a mixture of crisp, ring grained sandblast and smooth patches of flame grain briar, as well as a large bowl for a long, relaxing smoke.

 

Details:

Length: 7″

Bowl Width: 24.9mm

Bowl Depth: 2″

Weight: 3.7oz / 106g