Ben Wade (Preben Holm) Majestic Designer Series D XL Sandblasted Long Shank Brandy 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.

While most of the pipes that Preben Holm made for Lane Ltd.’s Ben Wade were “freehands” in the vein of the Danish Fancy, the Majestic Designer Series was a little different. The latter were still handmade and recognizably “Danish,” but they were much closer in style to other contemporaneous currents in Danish pipe making. Instead of a “freehand” as we today would understand the term, a Majestic was more likely to be a Danish brandy, Dublin, or egg rendition, and a rather large one at that.

I would call this particular Majestic a “long shank brandy,” though there is quite a bit more to it than that. Near-magnum in proportions, it features a very craggy and rugged sandblast, in a manner that one might say leans closer to the early English approach than the Danes, as well as a slightly elliptical shank and a distinctive, asymmetric saddle stem.

The condition is fair. Some rim charring, chamber slightly over-reamed, and general finish fading.

Details:

Length: 7.2″ / 182.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.86 / 21.84mm

Bowl Depth: 1.86″ / 47.24mm

Weight: 2.5oz / 72g