Stanwell Royal Mat 148 Made in Denmark Unsmoked New Old Stock Lumberman Pipe

STANWELL with the registered mark, MADE IN DENMARK, and below them Royal and Mat in script, all under the shank, with the shape number 148 stamped closer to the bowl. This Stanwell Royal Mat is new old stock: it has never held tobacco, and it comes in its original silk Stanwell sleeve, black silk with Stanwell in gold.

It is a short lumberman with an oval shank. It is a straight pipe on a vulcanite saddle stem with a fishtail mouthpiece, and it has no filter. Inside the chamber the grey colour is still there, waiting for its first bowl.

Stanwell began in the middle of the war. In 1942 Poul Nielsen set up pipe production in Denmark, at first in beech; of the six Danish factories making beech pipes then, five closed when the war ended. In 1948 Stanwell was registered as a trademark, number 969-48. New machines arrived in 1952 together with exports to Europe and the USA. In 1965, by the maker's own catalogue (other sources say 1969), production moved into a new factory in Borup, and by about 1982 the firm wrote that it made some 35 percent of Danish pipe exports, sold in about 40 countries. Danish production ended at the end of 2009; since 2010 the pipes have been made by Barontini in Italy, limited editions excepted.

THE MARKS

- STANWELL (R) / MADE IN DENMARK / Royal / Mat (in script) stamped under the shank
- 148 stamped under the shank, closer to the bowl
- A small mark on the top of the saddle (too small to read in the photographs)

The shape-number list compiled by Bas Stevens and McNally gives 148 as "Canadian, short saddle mouthpiece by Jess Chonowitsch"; we call it a short lumberman. Both names describe a straight pipe with a long shank and a short stem. Here the bit of the vulcanite saddle stem flares a little at its fishtail end, which spreads the draw across the tongue.

The finish is smooth and glossy. Please see the photographs for the grain.

For dating, the words MADE IN DENMARK place the pipe in Danish production, before the move to Italy after 2009, and the registered mark beside the name refers to the trademark of 1948. Royal Mat does not appear in the line lists of our sources, so no narrower date is claimed.

Condition: new old stock, unsmoked, in the original silk Stanwell sleeve.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Length: 128 mm (5.04 in)
- Bowl height: 45 mm (1.77 in)
- Bowl width: 35 mm (1.38 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.79 in)
- Chamber depth: 39 mm (1.54 in)
- Weight: 35 g (1.23 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 500