Nording Virgin Grain 1 Smooth Freehand Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

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.

Erik Nording is perhaps the last of the “first” generation of Danish freehand carvers still making pipes. Even if he wasn’t, the fact that he’s been crafting pipes and supervising apprentices for over six decades is plainly evident in his work. The only thing I would fault him for—and this is, admittedly, very minor—is not making it clearer which line of pipes any given Nording belongs to, along with his sometimes confusing grading system. Thankfully, the Nording workshop does provide some resources for identifying their pipes, with this one looking to be a Virgin Grain. It so happens that the Virgin Grain is one of the most selective of Nording’s freehand pipes, with only the finest briar blocks used to make them. Furthermore, Virgin Grain pipes are divided by grade, with grade “1” being the highest—as in the case of this straight grain beauty. With this information ready to hand, I imagine most people would be able to identify this particular Nording without even looking at the stamping.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.91″ / 48.51mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 76g