Stanwell 1950s De Luxe Sandblasted Army Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

Stanwell is one of Denmark’s most celebrated and enduring pipe companies, having been founded by Poul Nielsen shortly after the second world war. Over the last six decades, Stanwell has established itself as both a leader in innovative Danish design and for producing well-priced pipes with precision construction and engineering. Many of its designs were created for the company by iconic pipe-makers in the Scandinavian scene, such as Sixten Ivarsson, Anne Julie, Jess Chonowitsch, and Tom Eltang.

The 27 was an early—and I mean very early—shape put out by Stanwell in the mid-1950s, and which disappeared forever around a decade later. While it was not the most “Danish” shape offered by Stanwell during this time, it nonetheless displayed certain hallmarks of the emerging movement, especially as regarded its sender, flared vulcanite stem. This is a De Luxe model, and more specifically a De Luxe Sandblast, as Stanwell referred to its dark, relief finishes in the early days. This is also what the “8” at the beginning of the shape code indicates. The fact that this pipe has a three-digit shape code, along with its original, uncrowned “S” stem logo, points to it being a 1950s make, as the crowned “S” was not introduced until the end of that decade. As to why it does not have a registration number, I’d wager that was due to the very limited space available for stampings. It is sometimes said that Sixten Ivarsson did some bowl turning and sandblasting at this time. I’m not entirely sure, but whoever did this one did a fantastic job getting a good ring grain out of the stummel.

The condition is fair. Some rim darkening and finish fading. I also wonder if the shank might have been spliced at one point, as there is some unevenness toward the shank’s end, before the pipe’s army mount. The bowl is sound, but I’ve adjusted the price, even if it turns out to be purely cosmetic. Either way, a great collectors’ piece.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.72 / 18.28mm

Bowl Depth: 1.5″ / 38.10mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 34g