Danish Estates: Preben Holm Hallmark Freehand (H-2) Tobacco Pipe

Preben Holm was one of the most important figures in the Danish Fancy movement, being a key factor in its popularization in the United States and one of the first artisans to carve pipes in the style. This Freehand does well to showcase the unique nature of this particular kind of design, with an outline that's reminiscent of the Volcano and a build that's suffused with myriad fluting channels and ridges. A broad, curved base enables this pipe to sit sturdily, both the fore and aft covered in craggy plateau, and its rise into the shank and bowl is punctuated by a pinch and channel, followed by a pair of ridgelines at the midsection. The shank is nearly in line with the rim, curling up to an almost vertical stance and married to a deeply curved, stylized stem of shimmering gold and brown acrylic. The shank features a carved channel and ridge on the left flank with a curvaceous demeanor, accentuating said shank's slight flare out to its end and connecting all of the other ridges present on this pipe save for the base and those that outline the rim and shank face. Up front, the bowl towers, urging forward out of the base and rising to a rim that slopes down near the aft but lifts as it reaches the edge of the wall, the fore still standing taller. A vibrant ruby stain dresses the stummel of this piece, contrasting the stem quite well and highlighting a wealth of lovely grain throughout the briar.