WO Larsen 2, Smooth Bent Apple Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates (Straight Grain) [SOLD OUT]

Description

I’ll be honest, I find this pipe from Denmark’s legendary WO Larsen workshop to be a little strange. It has the grain quality of one of their top of the line Straight Grain pipes, as well as what looks like a grade stamp – ‘2’ – which was used on the WO Larsen Straight Grains. But it doesn’t seem to have the ‘Straight Grain’ stamp itself, which was added to the top of the shank of those pipes. I’m inclined to think it is indeed a Straight Grain, but I can’t say for sure. Perhaps it was accidentally buffed off by the previous owner. Buyers will have to make their own minds up on that.

In either case, it is certainly a Larsen. WO Larsen was a tobacconist in Copenhagen Denmark. In the 1960s, when Danish-style pipes were becoming highly sought after, thanks to revolutionary pipe-makers such as Sixten Ivarsson, a workshop was set up on the Larsen premises to produce enough high-grade Danish pipes to meet demand. This workshop was staffed by the emerging masters of Danish pipe-making, such as Sven and Teddy Knudsen, Hans ‘Former’ Nielsen, Jess Chonowitsch, Poul Ilsted, and Benni Jorgensen.

I estimate that this particular Larsen is from the 1970s, when Former was the workshop’s foreman. It is only very lightly pre-smoked, and is otherwise remarkably preserved.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″

Bowl Width: 21.8mm

Bowl Depth: 1.6″

Weight: 2.2oz / 63g

Stem: Vulcanite