Preben Holm Fancy 300 Extra Large Smooth Freehand (Estate)

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 looked just as good as they smoked. Even Herman Lane, owner of Lane Ltd. and Charatan during the 1960s and 1970s, was so impressed by Holm that he contracted the Danish artisan to carve pipes under his newly-acquired Ben Wade make, despite simultaneously stewarding the meteoric rise of English-made freehand pipes through Charatan). Today, Holm’s pipes remain highly sought-after, perhaps even more so than when he was still alive, to the extent that even the historic—and, originally, very English—Ben Wade name is difficult to separate from Holm’s work.

One of the names originally associated with the Scandinavian freehand movement was the “fancy,” or the “Danish fancy.” This term was largely used to denote pipes that we today would simply call “freehands,” not unlike the Nording Freehand lines that dominate the genre today, though not exclusively. Additionally, the word “fancy” did not first arise from the Danish language but was a borrowing from English, particularly as a descriptor of something “modern.” Early catalogs from workshops like WO Larsen, for example, separated their most unconventional shapes from their regular (though still very “Danish”) shapes by referring to the former as “Fancy.” The notion of the Danish Fancy evolved over time, becoming more synonymous with the contemporary “freehand,” likely in part to the sheer force Preben Holm’s name carried in Danish pipe making.

Holm himself had a quite extensive series of pipes bearing the Fancy name, with discrete subseries and grades based on the finish and the grain of a given pipe (grouped together under the rubric of “Quality”). There was the Fancy Sandblast for blasted pipes, for example, the Fancy Matt for matte-finished smooths, and the ascending 100, 200, and 300 grades for smooth polished. This is an example of the latter, an especially large, flame grained 300 grade, dressed in a light, natural finish, which has been paired with a golden acrylic mouthpiece.

The condition is very good. Slight inner rim darkening, some finish fading, and minor handling marks.

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 1.03 / 26.16mm

Bowl Depth: 2.14″ / 54.35mm

Weight: 2.2oz / 64g