Directory of Danish Pipe Brands (1/2)

The Directory of Danish Pipe Brands is an alphabetical list of pipe brands founded or produced in Denmark, one-man workshops, and factory sub-brands. After the Second World War the country became the center of freehand pipe thinking; as makers coming out of a handful of Copenhagen-area workshops founded their own brands, a wide network of names emerged that is now difficult to trace in full. This directory brings that network's names together in one place: some entries correspond to an established workshop, others to nothing more than a single stamp. The list comes in two parts; this page covers A. H. through Ove Jensen.

Brands

• A. H. — The stamp Alberth Hansen used on his pipes. A stylized AH mark inside an oval appears alongside the wording "Danish Hand Carved" and "Real Briar."

• Aalbørg — A freeform line Erik Nørding produced for the Tinder Box chain. The pipes carry both the Nørding name and the stamp "Tinder Box Freehand"; they were made in a few smooth and rustic-finished shapes.

• Andersen, Finn Meyan — A Danish maker of uncertain origin. He became known after going to New York and carving pipes in the window of a large pipe shop; he presented himself as someone who had worked at the W.Ø. Larsen workshop. In the second half of the 1970s he joined the Briar Workshop team in Vermont for roughly two years; his trail is lost after that. There is a strong likelihood he is the same person as Finn Andersen.

• Antique — A brand name used by German importer and dealer Hans Richter. The main source of the pipes he distributed under this label was the French maker Pierre Morel Senior; part of the stock was of Danish origin.

• Baltzersen — The name and brand of Danish maker Benny Baltzersen. He began in 1999 with the support of Leo Børgart; since he keeps pipemaking as a hobby, he produces a small number of classic interpretations and freeform pieces each year.

• Baronet — A Danish-made stamp with three stars beneath it. Since the same name was also used as a sub-brand of Savinelli and GBD, the Danish-made examples are considered a separate brand.

• Bentley — The mass-production brand of Hans Jonny "Former" Nielsen. As demand for handmade freehands declined, Former moved abroad, to a facility recorded variously as being in Germany and in the Swiss border town of Kleinlützel, and set up this line built on milled, multi-piece production; he later moved the same equipment to his workshop in Denmark and continued the series line alongside his handmade pipes.

• Bergspiber — The brand of Jørgen Berg Christensen, working in Jyllinge. He began making pipes in 2013; since his main occupation is elevator work, output stays around thirty pipes a year.

• Bernhard Julie — The brand of Anne Julie's son Bernhard. First seen at the 2003 Chicago Pipe Show, he makes large-looking pipes with the bowl and body rusticated end to end, sometimes extending onto the stem. He keeps pipemaking part-time due to other work.

• Bijou — One of Stanwell's secondary brands; production has ended.

• Bogelund — Pipes stamped with the name of Åge Bogelund, who took over the Bari factory after Viggo Nielsen. He ran Bari production together with Helmer Thomsen between 1978 and 1993; during this period and after the factory closed, he made pipes under his own name, mostly large, one-off freeform pieces. They are rare and considered collectible.

• Borg Mortensen — The pipes of Børge Mortensen. The name is struck in very small type on the turned section of the Cumberland stem, alongside a symbol resembling Thor's hammer (Mjölnir). On the wood only the stamps "Handarbejde" and "Danmark" appear.

• Brandt — The brand of Hans Brandt, who worked around Copenhagen's legendary Pibe-Dan shop and is largely forgotten today. He generally made slender, carefully worked freeform pieces. He was the father of pipe maker Fred Brandt and the son of Frederik Brandt, who used the "FBR" stamp. His pipes were brought to America in the 1970s by Iwan Ries & Co.

• Champ of Denmark — A line Karl Erik Ottendahl produced for Larsen & Stigart.

• Christensen — A record known under the name Lars Christensen; associated with the Norup brand.

• Cortina — A name whose origin has not been fully clarified. It is thought to have been made in Denmark by Bari in the 1960s; a horn band and small stamps running all the way around the body are common features of these examples. Models combining sandblasted and smooth bands with aluminum-reinforced horn bands are noted to be the work of Georg Jensen.

• Crown — Used first as a sub-brand of Preben Holm; today it is made by his former foreman and, in a sense, heir, Poul Winslow. Crowns bound for the European market run somewhat more ornate in shape, though they remain restrained compared to the flamboyant pieces Winslow releases under his own name.

• D.E.V. — A stamp understood to have been made by hand in Denmark; its manufacturer is unknown.

• Dane Craft — The brand of New York-based Wenhall Pipes Ltd. The company had pipes made by Danish and American makers to meet demand for Danish-style freehands in the American market; these included Michael Kabik and Glen Hedelson.

• Danets — A name seen on pipes marked Georg Jensen on the stem and "Danets Made in Denmark" on the body. It is thought, though not confirmed, to have been a branch of Georg Jensen pipes exported to America.

• Danish Natural — A name thought, though unconfirmed, to be a Stanwell sub-brand; its logo shows similarities when compared with that of the known sub-brand Royal Danish.

• Danish Quaint — One of Stanwell's sub-brands.

• Danish Sovereign — A name that, judging from catalogue pages, appears to be Stanwell's secondary-quality pipes.

• Danish Special — A brand whose manufacturer is not definitively known; it is reported to have been made by Kriswill.

• Danmore — A company Hans Sørensen founded in the early 1970s. It made pipes until the early 1980s and at one point had nearly thirty employees; its pipes appeared in the first Dan Pipe catalogue. Due to labor costs, production was shifted to Italy and Spain, and the company moved into pipe cleaners and smoking accessories. Today the firm, in the hands of Sørensen's sons Jesper and Lars, makes only pipe cleaners. Hans Sørensen died in 2012.

• Danske Club — One of Stanwell's secondary/sub-brands.

• Davids — A single record with no known manufacturer or further example.

• Dieter Gottschling — The second German maker, after Ingo Garbe, to settle on the island of Læsø and make pipes. Unlike Garbe, he worked mostly at hobby level; his pipes are nonetheless known for solid workmanship. He mostly favored large, traditional shapes suited to a 9 mm filter. He is said to have given up pipemaking a few years ago.

• DON / Don — A Bari sub-brand. On some examples the Bari stamp appears alongside it.

• Dybsø — A brand long attributed to Karl Erik Ottendahl, a link later confirmed to be incorrect. The pipes were made by Benny S. Christensen, who lived in Dybsø near Næstved.

• ENO — One of Erik Nørding's earliest stamps. It was used very briefly in the mid-1960s, right after the SON partnership dissolved; afterward Nørding began stamping his own name. The information rests on Nørding's own confirmation.

• Erikson — A name seen on pipes stamped "Danmark 200 Erikson" whose maker has not been identified. The use of "Danmark" instead of "Denmark" for the country name is taken as a sign these pipes were made for the domestic market rather than for export.

• Faaborg Pipe — A brand Viggo Nielsen founded with his sons Jørgen and Kai Nielsen after selling his previous business to a German tobacco manufacturer in 1978. Viggo continued to make around a hundred pipes a year even after retirement age. The name "Jewel of Denmark" was reserved solely for flawless blocks with clean, straight grain and birdseye pattern; the name is still used today by his son Kai, who carries on the joint workshop.

• Finn Andersen — A little-known but highly skilled Danish maker. His limited fame is attributed to reaching maturity during a difficult period for handmade Danish pipes. He is reported to have been among the makers of the Mr. Andersen pipes made for Remo Sørensen. His pipes carry the stamp "Finn Andersen, Skovlunde."

• Fireside — A name used by more than one manufacturer; records link it to English and American firms. The example noted here is stamped "Fireside Made in Denmark," meaning one of the parties using the name also had pipes brought in from Denmark.

• Flemming Jakobsen — A maker born in 1957 who has made pipes since 2012. He works in Svendborg, the town that produced names such as Tao, Poul Ilsted and Manduela, and his main profession is as a tobacco taster at Mac Baren. His pipes show a distinct "Svendborg style" along with traces of Ilsted and Tao; he favors bulldog, Rhodesian and faceted shapes in particular.

• Flemming Piber — The brand of Flemming Petersen, working in Copenhagen. He was a student of Sixten Ivarsson and is the teacher of Hiroyuki Tokutomi and Tom Eltang.

• Flott Pipes — The brand of Ulrik Flott from Randers. The maker retired years ago; his pipes turn up now and then on the secondary market.

• Frasorteret — Preben Holm's sorting line. The pipes were nearly identical to regular production, carrying only flaws such as fills and pits; stamped "Frasorteret Made in Denmark."

• Fred Brandt — A third-generation pipe maker: son of Hans Brandt, grandson of Frederik Brandt, who used the "FBR" stamp. He is also an architect. His pipes carry the stamp "Fred Brandt," some also marked "Hand Cut"; he also has a line called "Straightgrain."

• Frederiksen — The brand of Nils Frederiksen, a turner of more than twenty years' experience. He took up pipes as a hobby at the end of 1990 and specialized under Flemming Petersen in 1992. By his own account he favors twisted shapes because they allow more room for creativity; he often uses materials such as buffalo horn and bamboo. His mark is NF, and he makes 20-30 pipes a year.

• Georgetown — The brand of Georgetown Tobacco in Washington, D.C. The shop was founded in 1964 by David Berkebile. The maker of the Danish-made pipes sold under this name has not been identified.

• Golden Danish — A name seen alongside pipes stamped "IS." These are thought to be the work of Karl Erik; another view holds that the "IS"-stamped examples are Preben Holm's second-quality pipes.

• H. Dan Christensen — The founder of Pibe-Dan and the "Dan" in its name. See the Pibe-Dan entry for detail.

• H.A. Jørgensen — Only the brand name appears in records; no document survives regarding its production, period or maker.

• Handicraft of Copenhagen — A private label produced for Copenhagen tobacconist Remo Sørensen. The pipes were sourced mainly from W.Ø. Larsen and Pibe-Dan.

• Hans Aage Jørgensen — The maker behind HAJ pipes. The pipes carry the stamps "HAJ" and "Handmade in Denmark."

• Hansen, Kurt — An experienced, part-time maker. He makes Sara Eltang pipes together with and for Tom Eltang. He is also a skilled furniture maker and shared a workshop with Eltang years ago. His name is sometimes mistakenly spelled "Hanson."

• Hansen, Per — A maker born in 1948, trained as an electrician. In his spare time he began making pipes for Hans Hartmann, then worked for about two months alongside Preben Holm, where he met Ulf Noltensmeier. He joined S. Bang in 1970; with Noltensmeier's arrival in 1971, the Bang team was complete.

• Hartman Hansen — A Danish brand known by the circled stamp "Hartman Hansen." It is thought to possibly reflect a collaboration between, or carried out with, Hans Hartmann and Per Hansen.

• Hjerte-Brier — Pipes made in Copenhagen whose name means "heart briar." The use of "København" for the city name instead of "Copenhagen" points to production for the domestic rather than export market. No further details are known.

• Hofmann, Johannes — A maker who worked as a teacher and made pipes as a hobby.

• Ib Loran — One of the good Danish makers of the 1960s and 70s who never gained real fame. He began making pipes around 1955; in the early 1960s he worked at the Pibe-Dan workshop in Copenhagen under foreman Gert Holbek. Like his colleagues, he also sold pipes on his own account. His pipes were mostly small in size, and almost none were made for a filter. His daughter Tine Loran also carves pipes.

• IIS — Pipes stamped "IIS" and sometimes "IS" are reported to be the work of Karl Erik; this stamp appears on many private-label pipes. Another view holds that the "IS"-stamped examples in particular are Preben Holm's second-quality pipes.

• Ivarssons — The shared heading for a pipemaking dynasty spanning father, son and grandson. For detail, see the entry on Sixten as well as the entries on Lars Ivarsson and Nanna Ivarsson.

• Jan Windelov — Svend Bang himself did not make pipes, but he employed very good makers over the years; Windelov was among the most talented and took part in S. Bang's early years. He stopped making pipes long ago due to health problems.

• Jarl — According to information given by Ellen Jarl in 2010, the pipes were made at the small factory her grandfather Niels Mogens Jørgensen founded in the town of Bramdrupdam near Kolding.

• Jens Erik — Jens Erik Olesen, from around Odense on the island of Funen. According to what Viggo Nielsen said in a 1984 magazine interview, Olesen carved pipes as a hobby; at the end of October that same year he was planning to open a wine and pipe shop in Fåborg and to found a pipe club in the southern Funen region.

• Jens Peter Ransborg — Born January 31, 1905, in the village of Ejsing in Jutland; died February 27, 1978, in Copenhagen. The family changed its surname in 1945 to Ransborg, the name of the farm they came from. He trained in soap manufacturing and founded a soap factory in Copenhagen; unable to withstand foreign competition, he sold the factory and turned to pipemaking.

• Jesper of Denmark — A line of classic models designed by Jørgen Larsen.

• Jørgen Dam — One of the lesser-known makers in Danish pipemaking. He worked for many years as a police officer in Gentofte, and made his pipes mostly for Bjarne Pipes, so they reached the market under the Bjarne stamp. Bjarne supplied his makers with material himself and forbade them from working for other brands; the one exception was that they could sell a limited number of "workshop pipes" locally. Dam did this occasionally. Søren Refbjerg was among the makers working under the same arrangement.

• K. Bertran — A Danish record with no documented detail beyond the name.

• Kaj C. Rasmussen — A maker who worked for a few years at the Svendborg workshop, stamping the pipes he made there only "KAJ." He later produced his own pipes and stamped his full name along with his middle initial.

• King Erik — Danish-made pipes marketed with the phrase "from the hands of Danish craftsmen." They were generally offered in a two-tone finish combining smooth and sandblasted surfaces; the letters KE appear on the stem. The maker is unknown. The name's source is not Danish but the Swedish king Erik IX; this suggests the pipes were positioned in the American market as rivals to names such as Erik Nørding and Karl Erik Ottendahl.

• Kingsway — A name used by at least two manufacturers. Besides being a documented secondary brand of Comoy's, it was also used by Stanwell: on one example, the Stanwell stamp is noted to have been sanded off and restained with a new Kingsway stamp struck over it, with the old marks still visible on close inspection.

• Knute — "Knute of Denmark" pipes are said to be the work of Karl Erik Ottendahl. Ottendahl was born in 1942 in Aalborg, began a lithography apprenticeship at sixteen, and took up pipe carving as a hobby around the same years. Early in his career he produced for various labels in Denmark and America; during this period he also ran a workshop of fifteen people.

• Kolding — Both a Danish brand and a city that produced many famous makers from its surroundings. Bari was founded in this city, Kai Nielsen was from here, and Jarl pipes also come from Bramdrupdam just outside it. Kolding pipes are reported to have been made by Bari.

• Largo — W.Ø. Larsen's own shop brand. The 1961 Larsen export catalogue devotes two pages to the line, made up of slender, elegant models.

• Lars of Denmark — A brand entering the directory by name alone, its workshop undetermined.

• Larsen & Stigart — A pipe shop in Copenhagen. For a time it sold pipes made by Karl Erik Ottendahl stamped under its own name; the Champ of Denmark line was among these. For roughly a decade it also employed its own staff makers such as Søren Eric Andersen, and is said to have supplied Danish shapes to Dunhill.

• Larsen, Else — Denmark's first female pipe maker. She was the daughter of Niels Christian Larsen and Karen Rasmussen. She joined the W.Ø. Larsen workshop shortly after its founding, during foreman Sven Knudsen's tenure. After Knudsen left in 1963, she worked for a few years under Former's management.

• Löfberg — Pipes made by the hand of S. Bang's founder, Svend Bang, himself. Bang was actually a businessman rather than a maker; in the mid-1970s, probably guided by his employees Per Hansen and Ulf Noltensmeier, he made a few pipes and gave them his wife's maiden name. The pipes were left with Bernd Kopp to be sold, but due to a dispute that arose they never reached the display case and sat in storage for nearly thirty years; they were later sold as a collector's lot.

• Lucky-Star — A stamp about which nothing definite can be said beyond that it was Danish-made.

• Lyst System — Pipes stamped "Danmark." The "system" in the name refers to a two-piece bowl design: the upper part of the bowl is turned to fit onto the lower part, but looks ordinary from the outside. A rubber ring is used for sealing, and there is a single hole at the bottom of the bowl; the arrangement resembles calabash logic.

• Melby — A brand of which a few examples have surfaced, with almost no information available about it.

• Michael Apitz — A brand likely made by Stanwell, named for one of the people responsible for pipe selection at Dan Pipe, whose 2001 and 2003 catalogues mention it. Tobacco blends of the same name also exist. Its mark is MA inside an oval.

• Mike Bay — Mike Sebastian Bay, one of Denmark's leading young makers. He set out looking for someone to repair his father's old pipes and ended up apprenticing with Tom Eltang. He has been part of the Eltang workshop team since 2015, adopting the master's rustication style and developing it in his own way. Bowls tilted slightly forward and "twisted" poker shapes are considered his signature.

• Monte Verdi — One of Preben Holm's sub-brands.

• Mr. Anderson — A heading likely arising from a misspelling of the name Mr. Andersen; the possibility of it being a separate brand is also debated. Pipes made in Denmark under this name have circulated for many years. When asked whether he was the maker, Søren Eric Andersen said the pipes had been commissioned in the 1970s and 80s by Remo Sørensen, who ran several shops in Copenhagen, that some had been made by Larsen of Larsen & Stigart, but that other makers must have been involved as well.

• Natures Bounty — A line produced in Denmark in the 1960s for Iwan Ries and Company. The maker is not definite; the names Teddy Knudsen and Sixten Ivarsson are cited. The pipes are stamped "IRC," with "Nature's Bounty" and "Handmade in Denmark" beneath; known examples include plateau-topped freeform pieces.

• Navigator — A Kriswill sub-brand.

• Nimbus — A Danish brand introduced in 2004; a joint venture between Tom Eltang and Former, produced with the contribution of various makers. Its aim is to test new production methods that makers might adopt if successful. It was presented to the public at the 2004 Chicago Pipe Show.

• Noltensmeier — German maker Ulf Noltensmeier, born 1948. He took up pipemaking during his military service, soon moved to Denmark, and was hired by Preben Holm in 1970. He worked alongside Holm for about two months and became friends there with Per Hansen; he left after a dispute arose over the noise in the workshop. He then worked for Anne Julie for fifteen months, joining S. Bang in 1971 at Svend Bang's invitation.

• North Dane Pipes — A Georg Jensen sub-brand. The Georg Jensen pipe brand was run for twenty-three years by Per Georg Jensen, who as of 2011 was working as a "tobacco professor" at Mac Baren.

• Norup — A joint brand of three respected Danish makers: Lars Christensen, Hans Jonny Nielsen (Former) and Jess Chonowitsch. They began designing and producing together in a period reaching back to 1968, and the brand was considered a benchmark in Danish production. The company no longer exists today.

• Odin — A stamp whose maker has not been identified; it is most likely connected to the Danish Pipe Shop in Copenhagen. Some Odin pipes being seen together with boxes bearing the name of the Wilh. Jørgensen shop, once in business on Strøget, is taken as a clue.

• Ole Holm — The pipes of Danish maker Ole Holm, now deceased. These uncommon pipes cover both filtered and unfiltered models and are marked with the stamps "Ole Holm," "Danish," "Handmade" and a mixed letter-number code. Their stems are mostly acrylic. They followed no fixed shape or series arrangement and were made one at a time.

• Olsen, Poul — A Danish tobacconist and brand; the pipes were made by Poul Winslow. Grades run from one star to four, with the fourth tier quite rare. The same shop also had Stanwell make the My Own Blend brand.

• Outrup Pibeservice — A brand whose name has been recorded, with no other detail known.

• Ove Jensen — A local pipe maker from Copenhagen's Frederiksberg district.