Preben Holm Wengholt Designer 3 Smooth Freehand Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

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 looked just as good as they smoked. Owing to Holm’s untimely passing, his pipes are even more highly sought after than they were during his lifetime.

There has been plenty of debate over the nature of Wengholt pipes. That they were made by, or in the workshop of, Preben Holm is agreed. Whether they were made for a separate company who owned the Wengholt brand (as in the case of Holm’s Ben Wade and Dunhill Harcourt pipes), or were a sub-brand, or even a seconds line is still contended. Having handled hundreds of Preben Holm pipes from across the numerous brands he worked under, I would have to disagree with the latter suggestions. Not only have I encountered many pipes from Preben Holm’s own brand (along with Ben Wades and Harcourts) that were inferior in quality to the many Wengholts I’ve handled, but the Wengholts themselves have typically been drastically different in style to most other Preben Holm pipes. Some featured longer and slimmer shanks and stems (as in the case of this one); some incorporated paneled, or “twisted,” motifs (though the latter being done in a very different way to the Spiral line Holm made for Ben Wade); and some were simply quite “un-Danish” in the varieties of rusticated finishes they wore. The result was that Wengholt pipes displayed a marked difference in aesthetic that seems irreducible to making the most of second-quality briar. Wengholts, as in the case of this one, were also often graded, which is rare enough for a sub-brand, let alone a second.

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

Details:

Length: 7.0″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.63″ / 41.40mm

Weight: 2.0oz / 58g