Stanwell Flora Danica 146 Smooth Ebony Acorn Gold Band Saddle Stem Danish Pipe

STANWELL over a flowing script Flora Danica, MADE IN DENMARK beneath, and the shape number 146 at the side. This is a Stanwell Flora Danica 146: an acorn with a smooth, black-stained finish, with a gold accent band where the shank meets the stem and a vulcanite saddle stem carrying Stanwell's crowned S.

The Flora Danica pipes are lifted by an accent band at the joint of shank and stem: an elegant silver band on the red-stained smooth pipes, and a gold band on the black-stained ones, like this ebony pipe. The crowned S on the stem is silver.

Stanwell began in wartime Denmark. In 1942 Poul Nielsen set up a pipe production, at first in beech wood, at a time when, by the firm's own later account, six Danish factories were making beech pipes; five of them closed after the war. In 1948 the name Stanwell was registered as a trademark, Reg. No. 969-48, the 48 standing for the year, together with a horse-drawn carriage as its emblem.

In 1952 the firm brought in new equipment and began to export to Europe and the United States, and in 1965, in the maker's own words, production moved to a new, modern factory in Borup (some sources give 1969). A Stanwell catalogue printed in the early 1980s says the company then made about 35 percent of Denmark's pipe export and sold in some forty countries. Pipes were made in Denmark until the end of 2009; since 2010 they have been made in Italy by Barontini, limited editions excepted.

THE MARKS

- STANWELL / Flora Danica (in script) / MADE IN DENMARK stamped on the shank
- 146 stamped on the shank, beside the script line
- Small stamped letters on the end of the band (FDJ over a second line, partly unclear)
- Crowned S logo on the stem

The Stanwell shape-number list compiled by Bas Stevens and McNally gives number 146 as a freehand with an oval stem and a saddle mouthpiece, designed by Jess Chonowitsch, one of the Danish carvers whose shapes Stanwell put into production. We describe the bowl as an acorn: it is round and full and wider than it is tall, so it settles deep into the palm. The saddle stem steps down from the shank to a slimmer bit. Please see the photographs for the line of the stem.

The finish is smooth and stained black, which gives the pipe its ebony look and sets off the gold band and the silver crowned S on the stem. A black stain is a classic way to show the form of a pipe rather than its grain.

The stamp also helps place the pipe. MADE IN DENMARK marks a Stanwell from the Danish years, before Danish production ended at the end of 2009. Our sources give no dates for the Flora Danica line itself.

Condition, in our words: faint scratches in the stain and some darkness on the rim. Please see the photographs.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Length: 137 mm (5.39 in)
- Bowl height: 40 mm (1.57 in)
- Bowl width: 43 mm (1.69 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.79 in)
- Chamber depth: 32 mm (1.26 in)
- Weight: 45 g (1.59 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 492