S Bang Pre-1984 Smooth Bent Brandy 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. 

While originally a staple of traditional English-French pipe-making, the brandy shape was practically reinvented by Danish artisans in the second half of the 20th century. It became fuller, rounder, and, owing to innovations in pipe-making methods, was accorded grain patterns befitting its new, far more voluptuous form. This brandy from S. Bang, for example, features a consistent spread of flame grain around its bowl that laps from upward from base to rim, accentuating its already-ballooning figure.

The condition is great. The bowl has a little inner rim darkening and minor handling marks, and the base of the stem is slightly overbuffed, but the pipe is nonetheless beautifully preserved.

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.98 / 24.89mm

Bowl Depth: 1.41″ / 35.81mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g