Stanwell Flora Danica 148 Smooth Straight Canadian Saddle Stem Danish Pipe

A long, straight shank, a short saddle stem with Stanwell's crowned S, and a metal accent band where the two meet. This is a Stanwell Flora Danica 148, a smooth straight lumberman made in Denmark, pre-smoked and in good condition.

The Flora Danica line is known by its accent band at the joint of shank and stem: a silver band on the red-stained smooth pipes, a gold band on the black-stained ones. The crowned S on this stem is silver.

The Stanwell story starts in the middle of the Second World War. In 1942 Poul Nielsen began making pipes in Denmark, first from beech; the company's own catalogue later recalled that six Danish factories made beech pipes in those years and that five closed once the war was over. Nielsen's name for his pipes, Stanwell, was registered as a trademark in 1948 under Reg. No. 969-48, the last two digits giving the year, with a horse-drawn carriage as the company emblem.

After the war the firm looked outward. New machinery came in 1952, together with exports to Europe and the United States. In 1965, by the maker's own account, the work moved to a new factory in Borup (other sources say 1969), and by the early 1980s Stanwell's catalogue could claim about 35 percent of Danish pipe exports, sold in around forty countries. Danish production ran until the end of 2009; from 2010 Stanwell pipes have been made by Barontini in Italy, limited editions excepted.

THE MARKS

- STANWELL / Flora Danica / MADE IN DENMARK / 148, as noted when the pipe came in (in the photographs the shank stamp is faint; an 8 and part of the script line can be seen)
- 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 148 as a Canadian with a short saddle mouthpiece, designed by Jess Chonowitsch; we call it a lumberman. The two names belong to the same family of shapes: a bowl set on a long shank, with a short stem, so most of the pipe's length is briar and the bowl sits well forward of the face. The short saddle stem steps down to a slim bit.

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

The stamp MADE IN DENMARK places the pipe in Stanwell's Danish years, which ended with the close of 2009. Our sources give no dates for the Flora Danica line itself.

Condition: pre-smoked, in good condition, with a little darkness on the rim and faint scratches in the stain around the briar. Please see the photographs.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Length: 139 mm (5.47 in)
- Bowl height: 44 mm (1.73 in)
- Bowl width: 34 mm (1.34 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.79 in)
- Chamber depth: 35 mm (1.38 in)
- Weight: 35 g (1.23 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 501