Poul Winslow Crown Viking Partially Rusticated Volcano Sitter (Estate)

As is often the case with the greats of Danish pipe making, the story of Poul Winsløw begins as one of a master and an apprentice. That master was none other than Preben Holm; the apprentice was a young Winsløw. Holm held Winsløw in especial regard, with the latter ending up as the former’s head assistant in the Preben Holm workshop. After Holm’s untimely passing, Winsløw went solo, and after surviving the slump in the Danish pipes market in the 1980s and early 1990s, he emerged as one of Denmark’s—and the world’s—premier freehand pipe makers.

In his letter-graded (A, B, C, etc.) pipes, Poul Winsløw tends to add more by way of color and decorative elements to his pipes. In the Crown series, however, whose name appears to come from his former mentor, Winsløw’s designs are—quite fittingly—stripped down to the fundamentals of the Danish freehand. In other words, the latter show off Winsløw’s mastery of form and grain purely through the mediums of briar (for the bowl) and acrylic (for the mouthpiece).

With this Viking-grade from the Crown series, we can see a striking affinity to the pipes of Winsløw’s former teacher, Preben Holm, and most notably to the large, plateaux-bottomed, freehand volcanoes from Holm’s own Hallmark series, with this rendition adding a little of Winsløw’s earthy, partial rustication into the mix.

The condition is very good. Minor inner rim darkening and slight handling marks.

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.84 / 21.33mm

Bowl Depth: 1.61″ / 40.89mm

Weight: 3.0oz / 86g