WO Larsen Select Smooth Oval Shank Stack 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.

The “Select” was a premium line of pipes from the WO Larsen workshop. While all WO Larsen pipes were high grade, the Select was a cut above the workshop’s “standard” output, and were often worked on by its most talented carvers, such as Former, Chonowitsch, and Tonni Nielsen. What separated the Select from WO Larsen’s other premium line, the Straight Grain, was that, while the Straight Grain pipes were made by just one carver from start to finish, the Select grades were collaborative efforts, made using a typical workshop model. For example, one pipe-maker would be turning bowls that day, another would be cutting stems, another applying finishes, and so on. This Select is a beautiful little hybrid shape, one quite reminiscent of the early days of Danish pipes and the designs of figures such as Emil Chonowitsch. The bowl shows off bird’s-eye galore, so there’s no mystery why its grade was upped.

The condition is very good. Minor rim darkening

 

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.84 / 21.33mm

Bowl Depth: 1.82″ / 46.22mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g