Stanwell Shape 20 Smooth Boat Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

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.

Stanwell’s shape 20 is one of the strangest, most unconventional designs within the make’s history, which is quite an accomplishment given its central place within the evolution of Scandinavian pipe making. Created for Stanwell by Sixten Ivarsson, it is also, along with the early shape 01 “Nefertiti” and early shape 10 strawberry (also of Ivarsson design), one of the rarest designs Stanwell ever produced. It would be reasonable to assume that part of the scarcity of these shapes is the complexity of their designs, especially in the case of the 10 and the 20, the latter of which can be seen here. The bowl is long and narrow, with flattened sides not unlike the blowfish designs that would emerge from Denmark much later, though in the case of this one, the shaping is more evocative of a boat than the creatures swimming beneath it. The stem is similarly unusual, with a kind of faux military mount “stepped” figure that was only ever featured on a handful of Stanwell pipes (the shape 10 being among them).
Based on the stamping, this one was made for Tabak Keistler in the town of Frankenthal, Germany. The minimal stamping may suggest that it was even made during an touring promotional event there, which was common for Stanwell in the 20th century.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original (though slightly flaked) bowl coating. There are a couple of very small scratches, though nothing major. They have been reflected in the pricing.

 

Details:

Length: 6.7″ / 170.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.31″ / 33.27mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g