Jorn Larsen Smooth Apple Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Jørn Larsen was a fascinating figure within Danish pipe-making. Trained in mechanical engineering and locksmithing, Larsen came to pipe-making relatively late in his life, at least in comparison to many of his peers. He had smoked a pipe since he was 15, and he had dabbled with pipe-making during his teenage years and his twenties, but it was not until Larsen was in his thirties that he made a serious effort to become a pipe-maker. Larsen’s vocational background meant that he was able to make his own first lathe, and as he lived not far from both Emil and Jess Chonowitsch, he was able to receive valuable guidance from the two masters. Larsen’s pipes achieved considerable success in wider Europe and America (notably through the tobacconist Uptown’s), and are prized for their beauty and their technical precision. This latter aspect is probably the most fascinating thing about him, as he not only built many of the machines used by Danish pipe-making companies such as Stanwell, but his own workshop was packed to the brim with tools and machines he had created specifically for the making of his own pipes. Though Larsen tended to stick to a small number of shapes, he spared no expense in their execution.

As with the Peter Matzhold pipe listed yesterday, Jørn Larsen is someone whose pipes are few and far between on the estates market. Though from the outside he may seem like a minor figure within the Danish scene, the mark he made as an expert machinist is indelible, even if it was “behind the scenes,” and his own pipes remain firm cult favorites. This plump apple is a great example of Larsen’s preference for classic shapes in the Anglo-French mold, and it is also a great example of pipe-making mastery, in both its external and internal aspects. I remember reading that, for his own workshop, Larsen didn’t just settle on one specially-designed lathe to make his pipes with, but rather conceived and built three of them, in addition to all of his other bespoke tools. That kind of dedication—along with a sprinkling of mad genius—tends to go a long way.

This Larsen is also completely unsmoked, which I don’t think I’ve ever encountered before.

 

Details:

Length: 5.7″ / 144.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.12″ / 28.44mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g