Ben Wade (Preben Holm) Danish Hand Model 300 Smooth Freehand (Unsmoked Estate)

Though he would tragically pass away at the age of 42, Preben Holm was one of the pioneering figures in the “Danish design” movement in 20th century pipe-making – a movement that still dominates the high-grade pipe scene. By hand-shaping his pipes on a belt sander, Holm was able to make the most of the patterns of grain hidden within briar, creating spectacular works of pipe art that looked just as good as they smoked. Even Herman Lane, owner of Lane Ltd. and Charatan during the 1960s and 1970s, was so impressed by Holm that he contracted the Danish artisan to carve pipes under his newly-acquired Ben Wade make, despite simultaneously stewarding the meteoric rise of English-made freehand pipes through Charatan). Today, Holm’s pipes remain highly sought-after, perhaps even more so than when he was still alive, to the extent that even the historic—and, originally, very English—Ben Wade name is difficult to separate from Holm’s work.

As mentioned in our recent newsletters, this is one of a significant number of unsmoked Preben Holm pipes that came through our trade-in program recently. A few of those have already been snapped up by our most devoted newsletter readers (don’t forget to sign up if you haven’t already), though there are more to come.

If I remember right, the Hand Model was originally a Ben Wade line made by Charatan, after Herman Lane had purchased the latter to serve as a Charatan sub-brand. The Danish Hand Model, on the other hand, was something else entirely. It was one of the many lines made for Lane by Preben Holm, with each representing Holm’s distinctly Danish approach to pipe design.

This one comes from the “300” series of the Danish Hand Model, and is a seriously large, beautifully grained, lightly finished example of Holm’s signature style.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating, and comes with its original wooden presentation case.

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.87 / 22.09mm

Bowl Depth: 1.94″ / 49.27mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g