Alongside classic English and French pipemakers, Stanwell holds a significant place in pipe history. Due to the briar shortages of WWII, and the chaos that overwhelmed both France and Britain — as well as Italy from where a large quantity of briar was sourced — Danish pipe smokers couldn't obtain pipes from England, despite preferring such pieces. To fill this void of quality smoking instruments in Denmark, Poul Nielsen began making pipes out of beechwood under the name Kyringe in 1942.

When the war ended and briar resumed availability, Nielsen transitioned into making briar pipes, joining the market now resurrected with popular English brands. These marques dominated the preferences of pipe smokers, England considered the Mecca of pipemaking, so in 1948, Poul changed his brand name to Stanwell — a more English-sounding name to cater to popular pipe smoking inclinations. He even changed his own surname to Stanwell, cementing his commitment to his pipe making venture and his devotion to crafting quality pipes.

Stanwell became the first main exporter of Danish pipes, introducing the world to new pipe designs and adding diversity. Unlike most other brands, though, Stanwell fostered relationships with individual Danish artisans — most notably Sixten Ivarsson. Ivarsson revolutionized the pipe making process in the 1960s with his paradigm-shifting "shape first, drill second" approach, allowing carvers greater freedom and creativity when crafting new designs.

Recognizing this potential for collaboration, Stanwell commissioned Sixten to design a number of shapes for the Danish marque. This relationship, then, extended to other artisans in Denmark: Jess Chonowitsch, Anne Julie, Tom Eltang, and the S. Bang workshop, which at the time consisted of Svend Bang, Per Hansen, and Ulf Noltensmeier.

Stanwell's extensive portfolio, then, features a number of artisan-designed shapes, offering the individuality and aesthetic appeal of artisan pipes but with the greater production ability of a state-of-the-art factory. Such a combination is rarely seen from large-scale pipe makers, setting Stanwell apart and lending it a distinguished place among the globe-spanning breadth of pipe making.

Many of these artisan-designed shapes can be found in our Danish Estates category, and below are listed some of the most popular and iconic pieces, divided by their progenitors:

Sixten Ivarsson

11 - Bent Pot

17 - Billiard

21 - Potato Sack

30 - Acorn

35 - Peewit

62/63/64 - Bent Dublins

70 - Volcano

86 - Bent Pot

Anne Julie

11 - Bent Bulldog

35 - Bent Egg Freehand

Tom Eltang

126 - Horn (plateau rim, 125 smooth rim)

131 - Apple

190 - Billiard

191 - Bent Rhodesian

199 - Billiard

Sixtus 208 - Billiard

Sixtus 209 - Apple

Sixtus 210 - Pot

Sixtus 211 - Bent Dublin

Sixtus 212 - Bent Billiard

Sixtus 213 - Horn/Zulu

227 - Bent Dublin

228 - Dublin

232 - Bent Billiard (sits)

Featherweight 243 - Bent Dublin/Acorn

Featherweight 245 - Poker

Jess Chonowitsch

140 - Bent Dublin

141 - Billiard/Brandy

142 - Bent Dublin

145 - Horn

146 - Horn/Dublin

148 - Canadian

162 - Calabash

217 - Horn

S. Bang

178 - Billiard

179 - Bent Apple