Lasse Skovgaard Lion Grade Smooth Egg w/ Boxwood Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

Danish pipe making is notable not only for its masters, but its dynasties. The most famous is, of course, Sixten Ivarsson and his son Lars Ivarsson and granddaughter Nanna Ivarsson; but there is also Anne Julie, her son Bernhard Julie, and her grandson Johannes “Suhr” Rasmussen; Ib Loran and his daughter Tine Loran; Kurt Balleby and his daughter Tine Balleby. The list goes on. And it would not be complete without a mention of Lasse Skovgaard Jorgensen, the son of WO Larsen alum and carver of its Straight Grain pipes, Benni Jorgensen. Lasse himself made WO Larsen pipes as a teenager and debuted his solo work in 2004. In the years since, he has become such a renowned figure on the international high-grade scene that his parentage is an afterthought, if a thought at all.

Grading is one of those things that every successful pipe maker must consider at some point in their career. And, if a pipe maker has a long enough career, it’s something they’ll have to reconsider, perhaps even several times. It’s not an easy problem to solve; there are upsides to incorporating a grade system into ones output, but there are also downsides. Lasse Skovgaard used to grade his pipes by way of four tiers. The first three were, in ascending order, grades 1, 2, and 3. Then, above the numbered grades, there was the “Lion” grade, reserved for a select few pipes that stood out from all others in Skovgaard’s portfolio. In the 2010s, however, Skovgaard all but stopped grading his pipes—with one exception. Like many of his peers in the Danish artisan scene, such as Tom Eltang, or Tonni Nielsen, Skovgaard stopped grading the majority of his pipes, as they were all high-grade. The exception was the “Lion,” which Skovgaard continued using—much like Eltang’s Snail and M grades, and Tonni Nielsen’s Drakkar, or Viking, grade—as a designation for his masterpieces.

This would be an example of such a pipe, and it’s difficult to disagree with Skovgaard’s estimation of it. Leaning heavily into the classic Danish design genre of the bent egg, Skovgaard has nonetheless kept things fresh through his signature incorporation of elements from a variety of other shapes. In this instance, the pipe is something of a hybrid of an egg, a sphinx (note the slight “ridges” following down each side of the bowl and progressing to the shank end), and even a little of the fugu, through its “whiptail” boxwood shank end. All of this is a little difficult to notice, on the other hand, due what strikes as impossibly perfect straight grain running the entirety of the bowl’s sides, along with the hidden sea of bird’s-eye on the pipe’s base. Even compared to Skovgaard’s usual, world-renowned output, pipes like this one are something else—hence, the “Lion.”

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

Details:

Length: 5.9″ / 149.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.86 / 21.84mm

Bowl Depth: 1.87″ / 47.49mm

Weight: 2.5oz / 72g