S Bang Kobenhavn 9 Smooth Bent Egg Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

Originally founded in 1968 by Svend Bang, a former store manager at Denmark’s legendary W.Ø. Larsen, S. Bang would go on to become a legend in its own right, one that would rival even Larsen in fame and acclaim. While Svend himself was not a pipe-maker, he was able to enlist some of the most talented pipe-makers in Denmark to create the S. Bang pipes. In the early days, this included figures such as Ph. Vigen, but it is two makers in particular who would become synonymous with the S. Bang name: Per Hansen and Ulf Noltensmeier. Per and Ulf joined the S. Bang workshop in the early 1970s, and in 1984, when Svend Bang himself retired, Per and Ulf formally took over S. Bang. Per and Ulf’s creations were as admired and coveted as their Danish contemporaries, such as Jess Chonowitsch, Tom Eltang, and Hans “Former” Nielsen. Per and Ulf retired and dissolved S. Bang in 2019, much to the disappointment of pipe smokers and collectors across the world. 

This particular S. Bang, made after 1984 (as evinced by the “KØBENHAVN,” rather than “COPENHAGEN” stamping), embodies a shape that would come to define Scandinavian pipe-making from the late-1960s and 1970s onward: the egg. In contrast to earlier, slender, functionalist reinterpretations of traditional shapes, created by figures such as Sixten Ivarsson and Poul Rasmussen, later shapes would often be larger, fuller, and more aesthetically-oriented – no doubt in part due to the easement of post-war briar scarcity. These shapes included the egg, as seen in the works of Former, Anne Julie, and, of course, S. Bang. While it is undoubtedly masterfully engineered, this S. Bang egg uses the shape’s broad, bulbous disposition to extend the amount of space available in the design so that more of the briar’s natural flame grain patterns are visible. It has also been carved so that the bowl “balloons” outward, allowing for a fuller, rounder constitution that is highly organic and simply very pleasing to the eye. On a final note, this is a larger S. Bang than is typical, with pipe’s proportions are not so different from pre-1984 “Giant” size grades.

The condition is great. Some very minor inner rim darkening.

 

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.87 / 22.09mm

Bowl Depth: 2.25″ / 57.15mm

Weight: 2.9oz / 84g