Stanwell Legend 227 Bent Dublin, 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.

Stanwell pipe series are notoriously difficult to pin down. Even my Danish pipe super-fan colleague complains about this when I ask for his assistance. He did, however, recognize the shape of this one, and was able to provide a rough date as to when it was made, along with some estimations as to what the “Legend” series might have been. The pipe was designed by Tom Eltang, which is quite evident if you’re familiar with Eltang’s work both with Stanwell and under his own name. It is an eminently Danish, graceful quarter-bent Dublin with a slight forward bowl cant. It is also fairly lightweight, making it likely to be a comfortable clencher for veteran smokers. The pipe will have been made between the late-1990s and 2009, as it was made in Denmark, which the stamping indicates. As for the “Legend” series, it would seem that Stanwell released it as a fairly high-end line (the golden “S” logo on the stem is quite indicative) that celebrated its partnership with iconic Danish pipe-makers. Other pipes seen in the Legend series are Jess Chonowitsch’s shape 141, Sixten Ivarsson’s shape 64, and S. Bang’s shape 191. Like this one, the Legend pipes appear to have all featured a light, natural brown stain, laid over excellent grain. The combination of straight grain and bird’s-eye patterns on this one is very beautiful indeed.

The condition is also excellent. There’s some very minor darkening on the inner lip of the rim, but other than that, the pipe is quite immaculate.

 

Details:

Length: 5.4″ / 137.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.70 / 17.78mm

Bowl Depth: 1.48″ / 37.59mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g