Preben Holm Traditional Matt Smooth Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

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, and 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.

As I’ve said many times before, though Preben Holm was well known for his pioneering “Danish Fancy” freehand pipes, he was staggeringly versatile, and was smart enough capitalize on that versatility, even within his relatively short career. His workshop offered freehands (as we understand the term today) in a variety of finishes, as well as pipes that followed other contemporary currents in the Danish scene (the Majestic Designer series is a good example of this), and even pipes that emulated popular styles outside of Denmark, such as those of the great Italian workshops (as seen through his Wengholt and Monteverdi sub-brands).

The “Traditional” was an uncommon, though still notable, subseries of sorts found across Holm’s oeuvre, where it denoted that a pipe within a broader series had a more traditional styling to it. These pipes weren’t identical to something you’d find on a midcentury Anglo-French factory shape chart, but they were certainly closer in form than Holm’s other pipes. This one is a large, beautifully grained, bell-like Dublin, and there is certainly a little bit of the “English” to it, though perhaps more so in the vein of Charatan or GBD than most others.

The condition is very good. Some minor darkening and slight scratches on the rim, though nothing I’d call major. It seems fairly lightly smoked to me.

Details:

Length: 6.8″ / 172.7mm

Bowl Width: 1.02 / 25.90mm

Bowl Depth: 1.61″ / 40.89mm

Weight: 2.4oz / 70g