1960's W.O. Larsen Straight Grain Freehand Pipe by Sven Knudsen * COOPERSARK NR!

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THIS IS A ( 10 )TEN-DAY( 10 ), NO RESERVE , AND INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIBLE BRIAR PIPE AUCTION.PLEASE ALL OF THE OTHER BEAUTIFUL, NEW, OR FULLY RESTORED AND RECONDITIONED HIGH GRADE COLLECTIBLE PIPES THAT I HAVE LISTED FOR AUCTION THIS WEEK ON EBAYI buy and/or consign collectible high grade pipes! If you have any high grade pipes that you would like me to buy or consign for you, please contact me, and I will be happy to work with you! About my W.O. Larsen Pipe Collection and some important background:I got involved with our hobby back in the mid 1970's during my college years. While my very first pipes were some English high grades that were given to me by a good family friend, my interests quickly turned to collecting Danish high grade pipes. I had a next door neighbor who visited the Larsen shop on Copenhagen, Denmark and returned home with a couple beautiful pipes, which he enjoyed regularly. My girlfriend's parents at that time were in the modern furniture business and regularly traveled to Denmark. My parents also regularly traveled to Europe on business, and frequented Larsen's shop on my behalf. It is hard to believe that forty years have passed since that time! Needless to say, I had started my Larsen pipe collection at a relatively young age, and as the years went by I had established a good friendship with Ole and Inge Larsen, as well as their son Niels. As a result of the friendship with the Larsen family, as well as my unbridled enthusiasm, I had amassed, by the mid 1990's a W.O. Larsen pipe collection that Neils Larsen had called "the best in the world".There were three periods of pipe craftsmanship that took place during the tenure of Ole Larsen's ownership and stewardship of the Larsen name.The first period, or the "Copenhagen Era" (Very early 1960's to the early 1970's) (The pipes were stamped "Larsen (over) Copenhagen") are the ones that have dominated my pipe collection. They are the pipes that were crafted by Poul Rasmussen (the former husband of Anne Julie), Sven Knudsen (Teddy's older brother and mentor), and Hans "Former" Nielsen (when he was just a youngster!). These pipes were produced in two series - numbered standard shapes and one of a kind "Straight Grain" handmade freehands. The pipes of this era were crafted from Algerian briar, according to my friend Former Nielsen (he would know!). There were even two series of the numbered pipes, as the production facility suffered a fire and the master shapes had to be re-carved! The "Straight Grain" pipes were typically stamped from F, then 1 to 6 in ascending grade order. There were no "Pearls" crafted at this time. The highest grades were stamped as high as an "8", but these were extremely rare. The stamping grades of from this era were much more stringent than in later times. The majority of the "Straight Grain" pipes from this era were finished in a light to medium natural stain. Most shank adornments were crafted from buffalo horn of a lighter color. These "Copenhagen" era pipes are considered by pipe collectors around the world as the most desirable, as these are prime examples of mid century modern Danish design that were crafted by the early masters of the pipe making art. These are the most organic looking and the most important as far market desirability is concerned.The second period (Mid 1970's to the mid to late 1980's) is the most famous period, as this is the era of Teddy Knudsen, Tonni Nielsen, and Former Nielsen, along with the occasional pipe crafted by Jess Chonowitsch, Peter Hedegaard, PH Vigen, and a few others. These pipes were stamped "Larsen Hand Made in Denmark" with no "Copenhagen" stamping. The staining of the bowls were more varied than the era before. The pipes crafted during this time began to show a more refined shaping, and the use of adornment materials expanded from lighter colored horn to now a darker color, bamboo, ivory, amber composite both for trim and stem work, and later in this period, some exotic hardwood for the trim, as Ole had explained to me that ivory was not as st... read more

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