Danish Estates: Stanwell Duke (29) (post-2010) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

During World War 2, when the conflict-induced chaos meant that Danes had a hard time getting pipes from England, Poul Nielsen stepped up to the plate and fulfilled the demand for pipes by selling pipes made of beechwood under the name Kyringe. He had a hard time competing with the predominant English pipemakers after the war, so he changed the company name to one more English sounding: Stanwell. Nielsen, who later changed his surname to Stanwell, went on to revolutionize the pipe world with his company, being the first to export Danish pipes en-masse.

This medium-sized "29" Billiard from Stanwell's Duke line is a classic, English-inclined interpretation of the traditional shape, closely resembling Dunhill's "03." The pipe possesses a pert, upright bowl with just the slightest inward taper to its walls perched at the fore of a shank whose length is in proportional balance with the bowl. A wide transition flows smooth from the bowl into the shank. Marking the junction between the shank and the tapered stem is a trim band of metal, whose glimmer brightens the pipe's color palette. Cross grain made evident by the smooth stummel's rich chestnut stain flows from the fore rim, down the bowl, and through the heel toward the shank end. Gorgeous swirls of lacey birdseye grace the stummel's flanks.