Bjarne Handmade Bent Brandy Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

Bjarne Nielsen was one of the towering figures of Danish pipe-making until his passing in 2008. As the founder of Bjarne, Nielsen employed talented pipe-makers from Denmark to produce distinctly Danish pipes and sold them to a devoted international audience. Among those in his employ were figures such as Mogens Johansen (also known as Johs), Ph. Vigen, Ole Bandholm and Tonni Nielsen. Though Bjarne pipes are no longer manufactured, they are still in good demand by those who enjoy well-made pipes in the tradition of Danish design.

Danish-style freehand carving brought with it a distinct freedom to pipe-making. Out of this freedom came outlandish designs that were otherwise impossible, but it also allowed for strange new syntheses of older shapes and variations on the English-French standards. This Bjarne would fall into the latter category; it is something like a bent brandy, but more broad and bulbous, with a curiously slender, almost swan neck shank and stem curvature. It isn’t a drastic departure from convention, but it isn’t quite ‘traditional’ either. The grain is quite lovely too, with plenty of flame grain patterns around the bowl, accentuated by a fiery orange-brown stain.

Quite remarkably, this Bjarne is completely unsmoked, with a workshop-original bowl coating to help ease in its first smokes. There are a few handling marks around the bowl, but nothing beyond the superficial.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.67″ / 42.41mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 68g