Ben Wade (Preben Holm) Golden Walnut XL Smooth Freehand Volcano Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

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.

Preben Holm’s Ben Wade freehands came in a variety of styles and finishes, and as such a vast array of separate lines. Some of these lines were subdivided into grades (such as the Nobel Prize) and some into groupings. The Golden Walnut was an example of the latter. Alongside the Golden Tan, Golden Matt, and Golden Grain, the Golden Walnut was a quintessentially Danish freehand, bearing a warm, walnut contrast stain, as opposed, for example, to the matte contrast stain of the Golden Matte, or the sandblast finish of the Golden Tan. This Golden Walnut bears all of the hallmarks of the series, being large in stature, impressively grained, and dressed in a rich, golden contrast finish, though its shaping is a little different to many pipes in its genre. Most often, Danish Fancy freehands, position their live plateaux edge at the rim of the pipe, and as such have the briar’s grain flaring out as it climbs the side of the bowl. Holm occasionally reversed this equation, especially for volcano-style forms like this one. In a manner very much befitting the shape, the plateaux edge sits at the pipe’s base, with the grain lines expanding as they move toward it, almost like magma dripping down a rock-face.

The condition is very good. Some minor rim darkening and slight finish fading.

Details:

Length: 6.6″ / 167.6mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.69″ / 42.92mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 68g