Kurt Balleby C Partially Sandblasted Apple Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Along with figures such as Hans ‘Former’ Nielsen, Anne Julie, and Tom Eltang, Kurt Balleby Hansen is one of the living legends of Danish pipe-making. Balleby celebrated his 40th year in the craft in 2023, having first started as an apprentice to Kai Nielsen and Preben Holm. Owing to a highly selective approach to the briar he uses, and to the over 150 steps involved in making a Balleby pipe, production is limited, and their availability is scarce.

Kurt Balleby is a master of voluptuous forms. As a late friend of mine would say, his pipes are Rubenesque in that regard. What’s especially impressive is that Balleby is able to apply this talent to shapes that you wouldn’t expect that to be a possibility for. Rather than an egg or a brandy, this particular Balleby is a rather classic and compact apple—almost bordering on a prince—in the Anglo-French mold. And yet it shows off the renowned plumpness of his other designs, helped no doubt by his signature use of a slight under-travel where the shank meets the bowl.

This Balleby is completely unsmoked. It also comes with its original sleeve.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.72 / 18.28mm

Bowl Depth: 1.41″ / 35.81mm

Weight: 1.2oz / 36g