Stanwell Regd 969-48 Hand Made 42 L Smooth Billiard Army Mount Estate Pipe

STANWELL, REGD. No. 969-48, HAND MADE, IN DENMARK on one side of the shank and 42 L on the other: a smooth Stanwell billiard in army mount, with a long pencil vulcanite stem that carries the S and crown of the house.

It is pre-smoked and in very good condition, with darkness on the rim and bite marks on the mouthpiece. The shank end is covered by a vulcanite insert, the army mount, and the stem has no filter and ends in a fishtail mouthpiece. All four lines of the main stamp are legible; the first letters of IN DENMARK are a little faint, and 42 L is clear.

The Stanwell story begins in wartime Denmark. In 1942 Poul Nielsen set up a pipe production, at first in beech, as the maker's own catalogue from about 1982 tells it. In 1948 the name Stanwell was registered as a trademark, under number 969-48, the 48 standing for the year, and that registration number is the one stamped on this shank. From 1952, with new equipment, Stanwell exported to Europe and to the USA. The maker's catalogue places the move to a new factory in Borup in 1965 (other sources say 1969), and Danish production went on until the end of 2009, after which the pipes were made by Barontini in Italy, limited editions excepted.

THE MARKS

- STANWELL, stamped on the shank
- REGD. No. 969-48, under it
- HAND MADE, under it
- IN DENMARK, under it
- 42 L, stamped on the other side of the shank
- S with a crown, the Stanwell logo, on the stem

The number 42 is a Stanwell shape number. The shape list compiled by Bas Stevens and McNally gives 42 as "Billiard, slightly bent, long saddle mouthpiece, by Sixten Ivarsson", with a second, full-bent freehand under the same number; another copy of the list words it as a slightly bent billiard with a long stepped stem. A billiard has a round bowl with straight sides and a shank that leaves it at a right angle. Here the bowl is 47 mm high and 35 mm wide, around a chamber 20 mm across and 40 mm deep, on a pipe 155 mm long.

On an army mount pipe the end of the shank is sleeved, and the stem fits into that sleeve; on this pipe the sleeve is vulcanite. The long pencil stem has a ring near the shank end and runs thin from there to the fishtail mouthpiece.

The briar is smooth, and birdseye shows on the shank, with lines of grain on the bowl. Please see the photographs for the rim and the mouthpiece.

The REGD. No. 969-48 stamp means the pipe was made after the name was registered in 1948, and IN DENMARK places it in the Danish years, which ended at the end of 2009. No narrower date can be read from the marks.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Length: 155 mm (6.2 in)
- Bowl height: 47 mm (1.9 in)
- Bowl width: 35 mm (1.4 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.8 in)
- Chamber depth: 40 mm (1.6 in)
- Weight: 1.4 oz (about 40 g)

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 122