Danish Estates: Sixten Ivarsson Smooth Dublin with Horn (1977) Tobacco Pipe

Sixten Ivarsson's importance within the Danish artisan pipe movement cannot be understated, as he essentially started it, setting into motion a pipe making revolution whose echoes are felt to this day. Not only this, but his pioneering work introduced a variety of new shapes into the collective consciousness of pipe makers, the vast majority of which are still crafted today. His is a legacy born out of necessity and started in World War II when briar pipes were nigh unobtainable, leading him to become a repairman at Suhr's pipe shop in Copenhagen. One day, thanks to the request of a customer, Sixten produced a copy of an English pipe with briar likely sourced from France, starting his career's trajectory. His vast experience in pipe repair gave him insight into the ins and outs of engineering and taught him all the wrong ways to make a pipe, utilizing this to hone his own drilling so that each piece smoked as well as possible.

Poul Nielsen came across Sixten's work while visiting Suhr's one day, becoming enamored with the shapes he had crafted and using them as the basis for what would become the first 10 shapes on Stanwell's shape chart, with Sixten going on to collaborate with the marque for a further 40 years. This offered him independence and kickstarted his career as an independent artisan in the 1950s. Dissatisfied with the serial shaping style that many marques offered, Sixten began to craft all of his pipes entirely by hand, shaping the briar first with hand tools and a sanding wheel before drilling last: a technique that has since become the standard for artisan makers. His success with this technique not only afforded him renown, but led to his acceptance of apprentices and his teaching of legendary figures that include Jess Chonowitsch, his son, Lars, Kazuhiro Fukuda, Jørn Micke, and his granddaughter Nanna. His death in 2001 marked the end of an era, but his legacy lives on through his work, the impact which it had on the pipe world serving to define the Danish aesthetic and start the revolution of the artisan pipe making movement.

This Dublin is an extremely subtle work from the Danish master, though one which does well to reflect his personal style, featuring an expressive combination of bowl and accent that yet maintain balanced in their displays. The accent itself is a broad fitment of horn that expands out to a ridgeline-wrapped end and domed face, here inlaid with a brass band to allow the sleek saddle stem to push-fit sturdily and allow for easy disassembly. This length of horn sits at the end of a swiftly tapering stretch of ovoid shank which ebbs out from a wide transition, one which additionally supports a squat bowl. Said bowl expands as it rises out of a sweeping heel, canting forward gesturally while flaring to a softly domed rim that's nearly as broad as the bowl is tall. These two flares on opposite ends of the composition make for a visual weight that still favors the fore, but which is balanced by the gracile stretch of stem out back, placing the wealth of this piece's emphasis on the transition. Dressed in a warm auburn stain, there's plenty of fantastic grain on display in this pipe from 1977, its form easily displaying the masterful ability of one of pipe making's greatest artisans.