WO Larsen Sandblasted Churchwarden Sitter Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

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.

Especially in the early days of WO Larsen’s workshop, their pipes were often slightly longer, slightly more slender designs, thanks in no small part to the input of early Danish masters such as Sven Knudsen, and the influence of godfathers of Scandinavian pipes, Sixten Ivarsson and Poul Rasmussen. With that said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a WO Larsen churchwarden before, so I was really taken aback when this one landed on my desk. It’s a churchwarden-length, Danish-style cherrywood in design, and while the shaping and finish are excellent, by far the most impressive thing about it is that it sits. It’s hard enough to make a poker or cherrywood shape that does sit on its own accord, so making one that’s also nearly 12 inches in total length is a genuine feat of engineering.

The condition is very good. There’s definitely some rim darkening, but the pipe has nonetheless been preserved remarkably.

 

Details:

Length: 11.8″ / 299.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.91 / 23.11mm

Bowl Depth: 1.79″ / 45.46mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g