Stanwell Viking GR14 Smooth Blowfish Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

Stanwell is one of Denmark’s most celebrated and enduring pipe companies, having been founded by Poul Nielsen shortly after the second world war. Over the last six decades, Stanwell has established itself as both a leader in innovative Danish design and for producing well-priced pipes with precision construction and engineering. Many of its designs were created for the company by iconic pipe-makers in the Scandinavian scene, such as Sixten Ivarsson, Anne Julie, Jess Chonowitsch, and Tom Eltang.

Near the end of the 20th century, Stanwell began releasing a series of pipes known as the “Specialty” line. While there were just a few shapes at the beginning, the line slowly expanded to around 16 separate shapes, each available in various finishes. In their early years, the Specialty pipes were not stamped with shape numbers, as Stanwell pipes had typically been, but instead with names, typically alluding to the style of the design (these shapes would receive a number of their own, but only years later in special reissues). Conversely, instead of being stamped with a name-based grading, such as the Royal Rouge or the Silver S, the pipes were stamped with two letters and two numbers, which referred to the finish and, by extension, the quality of the briar (the better the briar, after all, the lighter the finish that would suit it). This one, for example, is a Specialty Viking shape designed by Jess Chonowitsch, which I would have to assume alludes to the maritime figure it strikes and the seafaring warriors of Scandinavia. It is a GR14 grade, which was at the highest end of the Specialty grades/finishes, wearing what was referred to as a polished, golden stain, and which was mounted with a brass collar. Most Specialty shapes, either named or numbered, are sadly no longer in production.
This one looks to be from the late 1990s or early 2000s, and will have been made at Stanwell’s Borup factory in Denmark.

The condition is very good. Some minor wear to the rim and minor finish fading. The pipe is chambered for 9mm filters (Specialty pipes were largely marketed to German pipe smokers), though if preferred, it should accommodate an adapter/reducer of some variety for unfiltered use.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.59″ / 40.38mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 76g