Bjarne Smooth Egg w/ Silver Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Bjarne Nielsen was one of the towering figures of Danish pipe-making until his passing in 2008. As the founder of Bjarne, Nielsen employed talented pipe-makers from Denmark to produce distinctly Danish pipes and sold them to a devoted international audience. Among those in his employ were figures such as Mogens Johansen (also known as Johs), Ph. Vigen, Ole Bandholm and Tonni Nielsen. Though Bjarne pipes are no longer manufactured, they are still in high demand by collectors and by those who simply enjoy well-made pipes in the tradition of Danish design.

While I’ve categorized it as an “egg” to appease the algorithm, the shape I actually see when I look at this pipe is the swan. This is, of course, not the swan shape associated with Dunhill and its LC bent billiard, but rather the one associated with post-war Danish pipe-makers in the Pibe Dan (or Pipe Dan) and WO Larsen milieus. Like the LC, the swan does have a deep, egg-shaped bowl, and like the LC, it has a distinctly avian side profile, with a shank and stem that extend gracefully from the pipe’s base. This version, like its progenitors, is however unmistakably “Danish” in execution. Hand carved decades ago, prior to Bjarne’s closure, this one also features a sterling silver collar, something quite uncommon for Bjarne pipes.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. It is a pipe from a recent new old stock (NOS) acquisition from a European store, and comes with its original box and sleeve.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.87 / 22.09mm

Bowl Depth: 1.76″ / 44.70mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g