W.O. Larsen Super 49 Smooth Walrus Sitter (Estate)

W.Ø. Larsen was a tobacconist in Copenhagen Denmark. In the 1960s, when Danish-style pipes were becoming highly sought after, thanks to revolutionary pipe makers such as Sixten Ivarsson, a workshop was set up on the Larsen premises to produce enough high-grade Danish pipes to meet demand. This workshop was staffed by the emerging masters of Danish pipe-making, such as Sven and Teddy Knudsen, Hans “Former” Nielsen, Jess Chonowitsch, Poul Ilsted, and Benni Jorgensen.

Of all the names given to pipe shapes, from apple to Zulu, the “Walrus” is certainly among the strangest. Yet one when looks at such a pipe, this appellation is very much intuitive. First designed by Sven Knudsen in at least the early 1960s, the design would appear in Knudsen’s work with Pibe-Dan (later Pipe Dan), in his Dantonian project with his younger brother Teddy Knudsen, and, of course, in the pipes of W.Ø. Larsen. The elder Knudsen was one of the first of the great Danish artisans to have their work sold by W.Ø. Larsen and, once the Larsen workshop was established, he would be its first foreman, so it is only natural that his Walrus shapes would find a place there.

This one is a Super grade rendition of the classical Walrus shape (there were others that deviated slightly in composition), dressed in a warm brown finish that highlights its cross-grain and bird’s-eye patterns.

The condition is good. Some inner rim charring, chamber slightly over-reamed, minor finish fading, and stem slightly over-buffed at the base. This pipe comes with its original box and sleeve.

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.78 / 19.81mm

Bowl Depth: 2.11″ / 53.59mm

Weight: 1.2oz / 36g