Benner (Bent Nielsen) Rusticated Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

Bent “Benner” Nielsen is something of an unsung hero of the post-war Danish pipe scene. Starting out as a carpenter, a chance encounter with freehand pioneer Karl Erik led to Benner taking a job under the former in the Karl Erik workshop. After working for Erik for several years, Benner then ended up making pipes for S. Bang, during the period where the make was still owned by Svend Bang. In fact, Benner was integral in keeping S. Bang afloat in the German market, when its customers began to much prefer more traditionally-shaped handmade pipes, rather than the “fancy” freehand pipes Svend Bang had distributed previously. After his time with S. Bang, Benner took a job at Pipe-Dan (previously Pibe-Dan), as a vacancy had opened after Tom Eltang’s departure. In between his work for other companies and makes, Benner made his own pipes, both under the Bent Nielsen and Benner names, with one of his designs even making it into the Stanwell catalog. Benner’s life was quite turbulent, however, leading him to abandon pipe making for several decades. He did return to pipe making in 2011, though I’m fairly sure he is now inactive again, for one reason or another.

One interesting thing that separated Benner from most of his Danish peers was a fascination with Italian-style rustication. Denmark has its own history of rustication styles, though instead of the micro-rustication associated with Peter Brakner, Bari, or Kent Rasmussen, Benner was particularly taken by the rocky finishes of makes like Savinelli. Here we see Benner combining a distinctive, Danish Dublin with a finish not unlike Savinelli’s Punto Oro Corallo, Capri, or short-lived Rock Grain, or indeed the Castello Sea Rock Briar.

The condition is very good. Some wear to the inner rim.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.75 / 19.05mm

Bowl Depth: 1.33″ / 33.78mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g