Stanwell (c.1970s) Reg Era Hand Made 23 Smooth Acorn 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.

The 1970s shape “23” is one of my favorite Stanwell shapes. Thankfully, I already have my own, or this one would be going home with me. Designed by Sixten Ivarsson, it is, to my knowledge, one of the last—if not the last—Peewit, or Peewit-adjacent shapes he created for Stanwell, with later variations being designed by figures such as Tom Eltang and Nanna Ivarsson, Sixten’s granddaughter. It’s a little like a cross between the 1950s shapes “39” and “48,” with a little extra plumpness and a more conventional saddle cut mouthpiece, rather than the narrow, fantail-style ones of the post-war years. It’s also a shape that I don’t come across often, and I do wonder exactly how long it was in production for. As far as surviving sales materials go, it appears in English and Japanese catalogs from the 1970s, but it is absent from all that I’ve seen after that decade, leading me to believe it must have been relatively short-lived. This one belongs to Stanwell’s higher-end Hand Made line, and will have been made prior to the early 1980s at the latest, as it still features the trademark registration number stamping that was discontinued around that time.

The condition is fair. Some minor inner rim darkening and a few small scratches on the bowl.

Details: 

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.93 / 23.62mm

Bowl Depth: 1.62″ / 41.14mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g