This fluid and elegant pipe is an early rendering of what would later become Sven Knudsen's famous "Swan." It has on olive-shaped bowl, slightly asymmetrical front to rear, a long tubular shank, and an even longer taper bit. It has a Danish-style blast, which is to say crisp but not especially deep, and probably done by Sven himself. While very well finished and with perfect fit, it appears that the this bit was cut from a high quality blank, rather than from rod stock. I suspect it was a medium-grade piece, and may have been sold through the Larsen Pipe Shop before they began making their own-line in house, a line which Sven himself designed.
This is the second of two pipes that my friend Jesper Klith of Denmark brought to me at the Chicago pipe show, knowing as he does my fondness for the late Sven Knudsen and the high respect in which I hold his pipes. Like its mate, it is marked "Handicraft of Copenhagen," and "Genuine Briar" with three asterisks or stars underneath. The nomenclature is virtually identical in the font, underlining and angled orientation to long axis of the shank as that which Sven used on his own pipes. But it does not bear the usual "S. Knudsen" imprimatur.
It is possible that Sven made this pipe while "moonlighting" from his job as foreman at the Suhr Pipe Shop in the mid-1950's, and did not want to advertise the fact to his employer. Or perhaps it was a less expensive line made for the Danish market, where pipe smokers were reluctant to pay the price required for a hand-made pipe, even one made by a Dane.
But for you, my customer, it represents the opportunity to acquire a true Sven Knudsen pipe of excellent quality, and in first rate condition, at a more modest price than would otherwise be possible. I recommend it highly.