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10 photographsArchive Record FUH-659T-XG8H-D
Stanwell Royal Briar Shape 23, Regd. No. Era (1948–1960s)
1948–1960s
Dating: Owner-statedDenmark10 photographs
Reference example
This pipe is documented here as an example for study — it is a record in the archive, not an item offered for sale. Everything below is what the piece itself, and the evidence around it, will honestly support.
Attribute checklist
Original stem
Yes
Faridunhill standing declaration
Stem replaced or re-cut
No
Faridunhill standing declaration
Rim cleaned (no wood removed)
Yes
Faridunhill standing declaration
Refinished
No
Faridunhill standing declaration
Chamber reamed
Yes
Faridunhill standing declaration
Smoked
Yes
owner stated
Facts, not a grade. We do not score a pipe out of ten: a number would rank a restored pipe above an honest one, and restoration is exactly what this hobby prices down. Every line above is checkable by anyone holding the pipe. Lines marked Faridunhill standing declaration rest on our published, dated statement of shop practice (v1.0, 2026-07-29) — not on an inspection of this individual pipe. It is one document, in public, that you can hold us to.
The entry
This archive entry documents a Danish estate pipe from Stanwell, stamped for the Royal Briar line and bearing the shape number 23. The bowl is briar, as the line's own name declares, and the record preserves the pipe as an example of Stanwell's mid-century production for reference purposes. Stanwell occupies a foundational place in the history of Danish pipe making. Stanwell is particularly noted for commissioning shape designs from leading Danish carvers, and its numbered shape chart — of which this pipe's 23 is one entry — became a defining feature of the marque, allowing individual forms to be identified across finishes and series. The Royal Briar stamping identifies one of the factory's named finish lines applied across that shared shape catalogue. The dating of this example rests on its Regd. No. stamp, read together with the owner-stated bracket. Stanwell registered its design early in its history, and pipes carrying the registered-number marking are conventionally assigned to the company's earlier decades, before that stamping style was retired in favour of later nomenclature. This is a marking-based method of attribution rather than a factory date code: Stanwell, like most makers, did not stamp an explicit year on its pipes, so the era is deduced from which stamps appear and which do not. On that evidence the pipe is honestly placed within the 1948–1960s bracket recorded by its owner, situating it in the formative period when Danish factory pipes were first establishing their international reputation.