Preben Holm Delight Partially Sandblasted Freehand (Unsmoked Estate)

About this pipe:

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 also happened to be exceptional smokers. Holm’s work was so popular, in fact, that he not only put out pipes under numerous makes (such as Wengholt, Monte Verdi, Rungsted), but was also contracted by pipe shops and companies around the world to make pipes for them. Dunhill had Holm produce pipes for the Harcourt make, and Lane Ltd.’s Charatan had him make Ben Wade pipes, at a time when Charatan itself was already at the pinnacle of its freehand output. All of this was achieved in the span of around 25 years, before Holm’s untimely passing, and his pipes remain firm favorites among casual pipe smokers and die-hard collectors to this day.

While Preben Holm is well known for his technique of “chasing the grain” when it came to shaping, this technique was by no means limited to vertical grain patterns. There were plenty of straight grain and flame grain pipes put out by his workshop; and there were ring grain pipes, too, brought into relief by a thorough sandblast. And there were also quite a few mixed finish pipes, through which one could enjoy the best of both worlds in a single pipe.

The Delight was a series comprised of such pipes, bringing together a bounty of vertical and horizontal grain patterns and letting each sing its own tune, owing to the light, natural finish that these pipes wore. This one is an especially sharp example, both in form and finish, with that motif continuing right the way up the pipe’s mouthpiece.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

Details:

Length: 6.09″ / 154.6mm

Chamber Width: 0.87″ / 22.09mm

Chamber Depth: 1.86″ / 47.24mm

Bowl Height: 2.46″ / 62.48mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 64g