A FUNCTIONAL WORK OF ART

PREFACE

Everyone has an opinion on pipes. In that way, pipes are biases in which pipe makers are predominantly men,
no different from cigarettes, but the opinions towards usually grumpy and sitting in dark basements, chopping
cigarettes are predictable: if you smoke them, there is a away pieces of wood in the same pace as they lose hope
good chance you like them. If not, there is a good chance and joy of living. People with prejudices like that should
you hate them. With pipes it is different; pipes have an spend a couple of hours with Anne Julie, Tom Eltang,
alluring appeal to others than the obvious fans. A lot of Manduela or the other pipe makers we portray here. You
people enjoy the scent of the lazy smoke rising from a will not find a group of people more interesting, open-
pipe, others feel that pipes are powerful tools adding hearted, more insightful and happier to be around than
character and an intellectual dimension to its owner and, the pipe makers in this book. It is a loss to the world, that
of course, there are those who associate the pipe with two of them passed away during the publication off this
their father, uncle or grandfather. Whatever your predis- book, and that pipe makers in general usually work in
position, the point is that the pipe is the only tobacco- isolated settings. Of course, some of them require quiet
related product that not all non-smokers instinctively surroundings to be able to produce their stunning craft,
hate. We can perfectly see why and it is our assumption and maybe it is the hours alone with the wood, sandpa-
that browsing this book will – if not make you love pipes per and their thoughts that shape not only the beautiful
– at least develop a respect for the stunning curves and pipes, but also their interesting personalities.
lines that the portrayed pipe makers are able to find in
the humble briar wood.
Justin Hummerston
The impetus for this book was our own fascination and Morten Ehrhorn
with pipes and our fascination has grown tremendous-
ly during our research – not only for the pipes, but also
for the people making them. There are a lot of existing
CONTENTS

PIPE EVOLUTION 10 Teddy Knudsen 142

Kent Rasmussen 152
Clay 14 Poul Winsløw 156
Meerschaum 15 Nørding 161
Corn 16 Kurt Balleby 170
Briar 26 S. Bang 178
Former 187
THE FUNDAMENTALS 44 Jess Chonowitsch 198

Pipe anatomy 46 FACTORY-MADE PIPES 208

Stummels 48
Stems 52 Finishes 224
Handmade stem 54
Bits 57 RESTORATION AND ESTATE PIPES 228
Shapes 58

HANDMADE PIPES 62 TOBACCO 234

Danish pipe revolution 64 Tobacco plant 236

Production 256
PIPE MASTERS 74 Flavoring 263
Pressed tobacco 264
Lars Ivarsson 77 Packing 274
Nanna Ivarsson 85 Cuts 278
Tom Eltang 90 In the shop 282
Anne Julie 100
Suhr 113 THE ART OF SMOKING 290
Manduela 118
Poul Ilsted 129 Packing the pipe 296
Tao 135
42 THE PIPE
PIPE EVOLUTION

The craftsmanship of skilled pipe makers

can bring forth the unbelievable potential
of a humble burl of wood. Who could
imagine that Tom Eltang was able to
find and develop this magnificent
spectacle growing under our feet?
46 THE PIPE
THE FUNDAMENTALS 47

PIPE ANATOMY BUTTON

/LIP

SMOKE MORTISE
CHANNEL

CHAMBER

BOWL SHANK
BIT

SMOKE
CHANNEL

DRAFT HOLE
TENON

STUMMEL STEM
 77

LARS IVARSSON

There are many legends in the world of handcrafted

pipes, but only a few are born into greatness. Lars was
the son of Sixten Ivarsson and hence royalty. Some
heritages are destined for failure – simply because the
shoes are too big to fill, but this is not the case with
Lars. In fact, he not only managed to meet expecta-
tions, he surpassed them by becoming much more than
the son of Sixten.

Of course, Lars could never make a bad pipe. Even if he

tried, his father Sixten would reject it. Every pipe Lars
made had to be perfect in every aspect, and Sixten was
right there to tell him how, but Lars was curious to un-
derstand why. Therefore, he conducted his own exper-
iments that usually confirmed what his father had told
him, but Lars’ questions added a dimension of a deeper
almost philosophical understanding of pipes.
92 THE PIPE
PIPE MASTERS 93

Tom is always bursting with new

ideas. Not only in regards to in­
dividual pipes but also with ideas
of sets so elaborate and beautiful
that they will keep any pipe smok­
er awake at night. It is sets like
these that can tempt a pipe
smoker to excuse the collectors
that only buy to own and never
to smoke. But it is a temptation
you should never give in to. Pipes
can never be too beautiful to be
smoked.
102 THE PIPE
PIPE MASTERS 103

Anne Julie lives on a remote island in

Denmark. From here, she not only produc­
es her coveted pipes, she also has a gallery
where guests from all over the world can
see other examples of her inexhaustible
creativity.
 127

There is a poetic contradiction between

the somewhat crowded workshop and the
rigorous pipes Manduela produces there.
140 THE PIPE
PIPE MASTERS

This is a great example of the compact

and yet elegant pipes Tao produces.
Even a landlubber would look like a
proud sailor with this beauty clamped
between his teeth.
148 THE PIPE
PIPE MASTERS 149

Most of Teddy’s pipes are not much darker

than when the wood was dug up from the
ground. The reason for this is the almost
perfect briar that Teddy finds. He needs
no darker colors to disguise flaws or
imperfections on his pipes.
166 THE PIPE
PIPE MASTERS 167

One of the pipes from Nørding’s

famous Hunting Pipes series.
The idea was to make an
annual pipe where shape and
color of the pipe brought out
the characteristics of a wild
animal. This one is the
Canadian Goose from 1997.

Erik’s son, Knud Nørding, is also

in the pipe business, and luckily
Knud’s son, Victor Nørding, has
chosen that direction too. There
are plenty of Nørding pipes in
the future.
170 THE PIPE
PIPE MASTERS 171

KURT BALLEBY

Kurt made his first pipe at 16 years old in 1966. It was

only for fun. He had no idea that he later would become
one of the finest pipe makers in the world. To begin
with, he attended university, but he was not a very good
student. He seemed to be interested in everything, but
his studies. It was not until 1983 that he found his pur-
pose when pipe maker Kai Nielsen offered him a job.
Kurt began making mouthpieces for Kai’s pipes and
he was so fond of the craftsmanship that he stayed in
after hours to make his own pipes. Kurt was with Kai
until 1989 when Kai decided to join his father, Viggo
Nielsen, in Faaborg, who was making pipes there.

Kurt was still making pipes, but he was not very es-
tablished and sold his pipes at bars and pubs. That all
changed when a German company in 1992 contacted
him about selling his pipes through them. This became
a breakthrough for Kurt, as people realized how truly
amazing his pipes are. They are stamped “Balleby” and
ornamented with a gold diamond. He grades his pipes
by numbers. The sandblasted pipes, which are blasted
by Hans “Former” Nielsen, are graded 1, 2 or 3 whereas
the smooth pipes are graded 4, 5 or 0. The higher the
number the better the quality apart from “0” which is
higher than 5. In some rare cases, Kurt grades a pipe
“00” but that exceptional quality does not occur often.
When they occur, they are numbered. For example, a
00 pipe could be numbered 217 meaning is was pipe
number 2 from 2017.

Kurt’s pipes are inspired by history, foreign cultures and

heroes of the pipe world – for example the work of Bo
Nordh, a very skilled Swedish pipe maker, who passed
away in 2006.
182 THE PIPE
PIPE MASTERS 183

The pipes at S. Bang are made by two

individual pipe masters with their own
preferences and styles. Still, they share the
same set of design and engineering guide­
lines and, of course, they share ideas and
techniques – including their famous silver
work and double staining process that
will make the grain leap from the bowl.

Per and Ulf were on the same page from the beginning.
They wanted to make the best pipes possible, but Svend
Bang was somewhat impressed with what Preben Holm
had accomplished at his factory and in trying to ven-
ture in the mass production direction. Fortunately, he
did not win that discussion with Ulf and Per, who have
produced their wonderful pipes ever since. When Svend
retired in 1984, Per and Ulf took over the business and
kept the name.

It is in itself interesting to meet two extremely skilled

pipe makers at once, and to think that they work and
complement each other daily will leave most pipe fans
in awe. If not, they definitely will when they handle and
smoke one of the pipes they made.
194 THE PIPE
PIPE MASTERS

Poul Rasmussen trained Former in Suhr’s

workshop where Former among others worked
with Sven Knudsen, the brother of Teddy
Knudsen. If it had not been for this humble
basement, the Danes would probably not
have been so famous for their pipes.
The quality is absolutely understandable.
Former has been in the industry for nearly
60 years, but how Former continuously
elaborates and invents new shapes and
stunning designs is beyond understanding.
His sources seem inexhaustible.
202 THE PIPE
PIPE MASTERS 203
206 THE PIPE
PIPE MASTERS 207

Any pipe that leaves the hands

of Chonowitsch is an amazing
pipe. If you a lucky enough to be
able to purchase one of his pipes
stamped with a bird, it almost
makes sense if you hesitate to
smoke it.… almost.
218 THE PIPE
FACTORY-MADE PIPES 219

At the factory they are producing a wide

variety of models and in huge quantities.
When you visit, it is easy to forget the stag­
gering amounts of individual procedures it
requires, even at a factory, to produce a pipe.
254 255

Ruth Williams and Walter Scott are “turning”

the tobacco and replacing it in barrels before
Maurice Lebray reapplies pressure with a
jackscrew.