Stanwell c.1960s Reg Era Hand Made 04R “Giant” Smooth Lovat Estate Briar Pipe, Danish Estates

Description

Stanwell is one of Denmark’s most celebrated and enduring pipe companies, having been founded by Poul Nielsen shortly after the second world war. Over the last six decades, Stanwell has established itself as both a leader in innovative Danish design and for producing well-priced pipes with precision construction and engineering. Many of its designs were created for the company by iconic pipe-makers in the Scandinavian scene, such as Sixten Ivarsson, Anne Julie, Jess Chonowitsch, and Tom Eltang.

Stanwell’s shape “04,” later known as the “04R,” is a rare and rather strange one, all things considered. It was created around 1950, being one of the very first designs Poul Nielsen commissioned from Sixten Ivarsson for the Stanwell make. And, like most of those early Ivarsson designs, it was unusual, yet not especially “Danish,” at least as far as we use the term today. Instead, it was closer to, for example, a post-war Dunhill “OD” shape, a Comoy’s Extraordinaire, or one of the many oversized pipes made by GBD for the company’s Conquest, Collector, and Colossus lines. That’s because the “04”—seen here bearing the “04R” designation—was, in essence, an inordinately long Lovat rendition. Toward the end of the 1950s, Stanwell grouped it with the make’s “Giants,” which is also when the “R” designation was added, as that was the suffix used by Stanwell from the late 1950s through the 1960s for its oversized shapes.

This one comes from Stanwell’s higher-end Hand Made line and, based on the shape and its shape code, I would estimate it to be a 1960s make. While the Giants appellation was introduced toward the end of the 1950s, the “04” was not originally part of that shape group. Instead, it joined in the 1960s, with its code being changed to “04R” at the same time. Surviving catalogs from 1970 and onward do not feature either the “04” or the “04R,” leading me to believe it was discontinued some time before then.

The condition is fair. Chamber slightly over-reamed, stem slightly overbuffed at the base, some finish fading, and some blemishing of the finish at the mid-section of the shank. Given the location of the latter I would imagine it to be a case of handling marks rather than any structural issues, however.

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.53″ / 38.86mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 32g