WO Larsen Straight Grain Grade 7 w/ Silver 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.

While even the “average” WO Larsen pipe embodied a rare excellence in pipe design and handicraft, the pinnacle of the workshop’s output were its Straight Grain and Birdseye grades. These were pipes made, from beginning to end, by the hands of WO Larsen’s highest ranking artisans at any given time, such as Sven Knudsen, Former, Tonni Nielsen, Teddy Knudsen, or Benni Jorgensen, and were priced well above WO Larsen’s other pipes. This Straight Grain Dublin already looks to be a very respectable grade 7 (Larsen’s grades typically ran from 1-10, after which was only the mythical Pearl grade), with a flowing, organic form sitting somewhere between a Dublin and a strawberry.

The condition is very good. Some darkening and slight charring on parts of the inner rim, and some handling marks. One thing I will note is that I’m not 100% sure that the sterling silver collar is original. I see no cracks that would indicate a repair, and it is both flush and properly positioned around the shank, not obscuring any of the stamping. What throws me off is the absence of the typical “925S” purity mark, though purity laws in Denmark have changed over the last half century. So, it might be original, or it might be a replacement for a collar that was there to begin with. I’ll have to let customers decide for themselves, but I’ll adjust the price some in any case.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.98 / 24.89mm

Bowl Depth: 1.53″ / 38.86mm

Weight: 1.3oz / 38g