Stanwell Freehand Sandblast Plateau Rim Denmark Estate Pipe Regd No 969-48

STANWELL, REGD. No. 969-48 and MADE IN DENMARK on a smooth part of the shank, and no shape number at all: this is a Stanwell freehand, made outside the Stanwell shape-number system, with a plateau rim and a large conical bowl in sandblasted briar.

It is a real catch and a rare find, and one thing is said plainly from the start: the stem is a replacement. It fits this pipe completely, the tenon is an exact fit and the colour matches, but it carries another maker's logo, a triangle or close to it, perhaps Ascot. The chamber held very thick layers from smoking in the last century. They were cleaned carefully, and the last layer was left on purpose as protection, because the walls may have a crack under it; take care if you clean it further, or better, leave it as it is. STANWELL reads clearly; the registration line and MADE IN DENMARK are faint.

The name on this shank goes back to Poul Nielsen, who set up a pipe production in Denmark in 1942 and worked at first in beech. In 1948 he registered Stanwell as a trademark, with a horse-drawn carriage as its emblem, under the number 969-48; the 48 is the year of the registration, and it is the number struck on this pipe. New equipment came in 1952, and with it export to Europe and the USA. The maker's own catalogue of about 1982 names some 40 countries that bought Stanwell pipes. Production stayed in Denmark until the end of 2009; from 2010 the pipes were made by Barontini in Italy, apart from limited editions.

THE MARKS

- STANWELL, stamped on the shank
- REGD. No. 969-48, under it (faint)
- MADE IN DENMARK, under it (faint)
- no shape number
- another maker's logo on the replacement stem

Most Stanwell pipes carry a shape number. A freehand like this one stands outside that system, so the stamp gives only the name, the registration and the country. The bowl is a large cone, wider at the rim than at its base, and the top is a plateau: the rough outer surface of the briar block, left at the rim instead of being cut to a smooth ring. The pipe is bent. The bowl is 52 mm high and 43 mm across on the outside, around a chamber 22.6 mm wide and 41.9 mm deep.

The sandblast covers the bowl and runs over the plateau, while the shank around the stamp is smooth. A blast takes away the softer wood and leaves the harder growth rings standing as ridges, and those ridges are what the photographs show across the bowl.

No narrower date can be read from the marks than this: the registration number shows the pipe was made after 1948, and MADE IN DENMARK shows it was made before Stanwell production left Denmark at the end of 2009.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Length: 155 mm (6.12 in)
- Bowl height: 52 mm (2.1 in)
- Bowl outside diameter: 43 mm (1.7 in)
- Chamber diameter: 22.6 mm (0.89 in)
- Chamber depth: 41.9 mm (1.65 in)
- Weight: 51 g (1.8 oz)

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 375