WO Larsen Smooth Bent Egg 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.

I thought I recognized this Larsen shape, so I went back and checked the catalogs on the W.O. Larsen Pipedia page. I was right, I did recognize it. It’s an ever so slight variation on a design that was featured all the way back in a catalog from the early 1960s, numbered “41” in said catalog. In that case, I’d put good money on it being a Sven Knudsen design, given how early a shape it is within Larsen’s historical catalog, and given that it is very much his style. There is certainly something “avian” about it, and Knudsen did like his birds (though I’ve categorized it as an “egg” simply to better satisfy the algorithm and our own classification system). Aside from all of that, it’s just a beautiful pipe, with great flame grain patterns lapping up all around its bowl.

The condition is also excellent. There’s a touch of finish fading on the rim, but the previous owner clearly took great care of this pipe. I don’t blame them.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.81 / 20.57mm

Bowl Depth: 1.67″ / 42.41mm

Weight: 2.0oz / 58g