Sven Knudsen c. 1957 Stacked Billiard Ring Grain

Price: $1,200.00

When Sven Knudsen left the Paul Rasmussen's famous Suhr Workshop in 1957 to open his own workshop in Copenhagen, he started the "Dantonian" line, a name chosen to appeal to the Dane's strong predilection for British pipes. A few years later, he moved to the country, and dropped the "Copenhagen' stamping from his pipes, while retaining the Dantonian name.

This allows us to date this pipe with reasonable certainty to the late '50's. Moreover, its propotions are reminiscent of the Rasmussen style, which were frequently tall and graceful, a style which later found expression in the famous Shape Reformed series from Pipe Dan, a series designed by another Suhr graduate, Gert Holbek.

It is a very tall classic billiard, with a nearly cylindrical bowl, a tubular shank, and a superb handcut saddle bit. What makes this pipe especially interesting is the deep, crisp ring grain that surrounds the bowl and the "Tanshell" finish, a finish that Dunhill had just introduced in England, and one that that fit well with the Danish Modern esthetic. It is not perhaps as adventurous as those which Sven later made as he found his stylistic voice; but it is still graceful and appealing, and should prove to be a wonderful smoker, And it is a pipe of no little historical significance from one of the world's greatest pipe makers.