by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is one that we picked up in the lot from our connection in Copenhagen, Denmark on February 16/2023. The smooth finish on this Danish made pipe and the twist in the bowl and shank shape is what caught our eye. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads handcut [over] 1651. On the right and underside, it is stamped Antique Briar running from the mid shank toward the bowl. Underneath that and running the other direction it reads Made in Denmark. It has a Reddish, Brown stain on the smooth finish that is a great contrast to vulcanite taper stem. The Pot shaped bowl was moderately caked and the inner edge and the top had some darkening and spots of lava on them. The stem was lightly oxidized and had tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button. There was a Crown logo stamped on the left side of the shank and also in gold on the top side of the taper. I feel like it points to a connection with Preben Holm but I cannot verify that yet. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. He took some photos of the rim top and bowl from various angles to give me a clear picture of the condition of the rim top and bowl. The thick cake in the bowl is visible below. There is some darkening and lava on the rim top. He included photos that show the top and underside of the stem. It is as described above. Jeff took some photos of the sides and heel of the bowl to show the condition of the finish on the pipe. The photos showed the nice grain around the bowl and shank even with the grime in the finish. It is a great looking piece of briar. He took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It was clear and readable as noted above. I did some searching on Pipephil’s site (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-a6.html) and found a listing for Antique pipes. They were stamped Handmade instead of Handcut. However, the two shown below were made in France and possibly Germany. However, the sidebar had a note that some pipes were of Danish origin.Antique is a brand of Hans Richter (†), a German pipe importer and dealer. He particularly used to distribute under the “Antique” label pipes crafted by Pierre Morel Senior. Some pipes were also of Danish origin.

While this did not definitively give me any direction on the maker of the pipe. Somewhere in the recesses of my memory there a faint niggling that the Antique pipe was possibly made by Preben Holm but I could not be sure. The mystery shall remain. With that I turn back to working on the pipe itself.

Since Jeff always follows the same pattern of work in his cleanup we do not include photos but rather just a simple summary. Jeff reamed the bowl with a PipNet pipe reamer and followed up with a Savinelli Fitsall pipe knife to remove the cake. He scrubbed out the mortise and the airway in the shank and the stem with alcohol, cotton swabs and pipe cleaners. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl, rim, shank and stem with a tooth brush and Murphy’s Oil Soap to remove the oils and tars on the rim and the grime on the finish of the bowl. He rinsed it under running water. He dried it off with a soft cloth. He was able to remove the lava build up on the rim top and you could see the damages to the top and edges of the rim. I think this pipe may well been before we worked with Mark Hoover’s Before & After Deoxidizer so he cleaned the internals and externals. The stem was clean but lightly oxidized. I took photos of what the pipe looked like when I brought to my worktable. I took close up photos of the bowl, rim top and stem to show how clean the pipe was. The bowl was clean and the rim top and the inner edge showed darkening but no damage. The stem was clean and there were light tooth marks on the top and underside of the stem.I took photos of the stamping on the sides of the shank. It is very clear and readable and read as noted above. I also removed the stem from the shank and took photos of the pipe to show the look of the parts. I polished the briar with micromesh sanding pads – 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped the bowl surface down with a damp cloth after each sanding pad to remove the sanding dust. Once I finished the exterior of the briar was clean and the grain really stood out. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect the briar. I let the balm sit for 15 minutes and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. It looks quite nice at this point. I set the bowl aside and turned my attention to the stem. I touched up the circle Crown stamp on the top of the taper stem with Rub’n Buff Antique Gold. I worked it into the stamp with a tooth pick. Once it cured I buffed off the excess with a soft cloth. It looked better but there were some spots that were faint.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit pads. I wiped the stem down after each sanding pad with Obsidian Oil. I polished it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish – both Fine and Extra Fine. Once I had finished the polishing I gave it final coat of oil and set it aside to dry. I am excited to be on the homestretch with beautiful Handcut 1651 Antique Briar Long Shank Twisted Pot. I look forward to the moment when it all comes back together, polished and waxed. I put the bowl and stem back together. I polished the bowl and stem with Blue Diamond to polish out the scratches in the briar and the vulcanite. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The pipe polished up pretty nicely. The beautifully grained finish looks really good with the interesting grain patterns standing out on the shape. The grain and the polished black vulcanite went really well together. This Handcut 1651 Antique Briar has that classic Danish look that catches the eye. The combination of various brown stains really makes the pipe look attractive. It is another comfortable pipe to hold in the hand. Who made it? Is it a Bari? A Preben Holm? Don’t know but it is a beauty. The finished pipe is shown in the photos below. The dimensions of the pipe are Length: 5 ½ inches, Height: 1 ¾ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 3/8 inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 32 grams/1.13 ounces. I will be posting it for sale in the Danish Pipemaking Section on the rebornpipes store very soon. If you are interested in adding it to your collection let me know. Thanks for reading this blog and my reflections on the pipe while I worked on it. This was an interesting estate to bring back to life.