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How long will Danish last?

How long will Danish classicism continue to dominate the pipe world? Belgian collector Erwin Van Hove thinks its erstwhile monopoly is challenged. Along with master blender Greg Pease, dealers Sykes Wilford and Mike Glukler, and German enthusiast Jörg Lehmann, he discusses the chances for a change of direction. Could pipe sculptors like Talbert, Negoita and Rasmussen be the new trend-setters?

Mike Glukler: I would suppose the Danish trend will continue for some time. There appears to be some continuity with the new and younger Scandinavian makers. The elders do 'assist' the juniors. If this holds true, then the lineage shall carry on. However as other nationalities makers start to show the same high quality results I suppose the market for the Scandinavian makers will get smaller. I also suggest that we are starting to truly see the beginnings of some makers from Germany, which may rival the Scandinavians in the high-grade market.

Erwin Van Hove: When I talk with young, ambitious carvers on both sides of the Pond, it always strikes me how they all seem to admire the same masters: the great Danes are their source of inspiration. Besides I notice that almost all my pipe-collecting friends share this profound respect for the Danish style. So it seems safe to presume that the Danish aesthetics will continue to dominate the high-grade market for quite some time.

On the other hand, for some time now, I've sensed a timid, but genuine interest amongst European collectors in styles and aesthetics that aren't inspired by the Danes. 'Mavericks' like Trever Talbert, Larry Roush or Lee von Erck begin to attract attention. It isn't a sacrilege anymore to state that Paolo Becker is on par with the Danes. And the fact that it takes great craftsmanship to perform a superb rustication or blast job is finally acknowledged. So things are slowly changing.

As for the sculptural approach to pipe making, I'm convinced this style won't ever become dominant. Most smokers and collectors are quite traditional and look in the first place for a well performing smoking tool that is rather discrete. Carvers like Rolando Negoita or Kent Rasmussen will always reach a niche of the market, but it seems to me that their work is too original or extreme to become the new standard.

Greg Pease: I'm not so sure I'd call these guys 'mavericks'. They each demonstrate that their roots are firmly planted in either classicism or Danish Modern, in some sense. While each displays his own unique style, with boldness often missing from less seasoned makers, it's not hard to see where they're 'coming from', in a sense. It's great to see they're receiving the acknowledgment they deserve. On the other hand, Trever certainly has a striking sense for the whimsical, and often delves into the truly strange. Still, he has a unique style with his classic interpretations, as well. The weird stuff does stand out. Maybe he is a maverick, after all.

Jörg Lehmann: In my opinion, the so-called Danish style is irreversibly established in the world of pipe making. Most of the highly sculptured pipes I've seen in the past were rather odd. Some were very well executed, and the artist had spent a lot of time over them - witness the award winning rose shaped pipe by Walt Cannoy. But in contrast, I have also seen many pieces billed as sculptures, though they really only showed the incompetence of the carver to make a well-shaped pipe.

Okay, there are some other pipes with similarities to sculptures, such as some Nordh or Kent Rasmussen shapes, but these 'artefacts' are always pipes, first and foremost. So, I cannot imagine that sculptures will play a significant role in the future. Pipe sculptures will be a marginal note only for collectors.

Mind you, this is only my personal opinion. I have little experience with South European and US collectors' tastes. Maybe sculptured pipes are in higher demand there. But from the economic point of view, I'm sure sculptured pipes do not make much sense for most carvers.

Sykes Wilford: It is impossible to discount the enormous influence that Sixten Ivarsson and that generation of Danish carvers had on pipe making worldwide. That said, with every art form - nay, every product - there's always someone who comes along and does it a little bit better or a little bit different. The influence of Danish design has left an indelible mark on pipe making: vestiges of it will be visible for generations to come, if not forever.

That said, I think we're beginning to see the antecedents of a second revolution. There have been a few distinct strands of radical new design that may or may not yield a design school in their own right. Rolando Negoita springs to mind, as do two or three Japanese pipe makers. Their work is brilliant and distinctive, but may end with the death of the given maker - think Joe Mariner in the 1980s with his retirement from pipe making. Sixten's great achievement had less to do with his revolutionary design and more to do with his ability to propagate it through other Danish pipe makers.

I do know that other art forms and other artistic styles will continue to influence the development of pipe making. Do I think that there will be another radical shift similar to the Danish Revolution? I don't know. I do know that little pieces from different artistic traditions, different aesthetic approaches and different manufacturing techniques will build on what the Danes have already accomplished. Either way, it will be fun and interesting.

Erwin Van Hove: Jörg believes the Danish style is irreversible. I presume he means this style is kind of inescapable because it has been the prevailing standard for a few decades. I doubt that. I'm sure the 19th century French artisans must have thought the Jura made pipe would dominate the market forever - just like the English pipe makers of the first half of the 20th century must have been convinced they had created the ultimate, definitive pipe shapes. They were wrong.

Jörg confesses that he hasn't been paying a lot of attention to the more sculptural approach to pipe making, just as he admits that he has little experience with American or South European aesthetic sensibilities. And I know for a fact that Jörg dislikes both most English and Italian pipes. I don't mention these facts because I want to attack Jörg's personal taste - as a matter of fact Jörg has great taste - but because his attitude is typical of so many contemporary high-grade collectors in Germany. Greg Pease enjoys old GBDs or Larry Roush pipes as much as he appreciates the work of Peter Heeschen or Kent Rasmussen. Chuck Stanion not only likes the great Danes - he also puffs on an Ardor or a Ruthenberg with equal satisfaction. Sykes Wilford shows as much enthusiasm for the work of Paolo Becker and for the Japanese carvers as he does for the Danes. Few German high-grade collectors show the same eclectism - they seem to think the one and only canon of design is Danish. They fail to see the beauty in a Dunhill 120 or a Castello 55. So I just want to point out that there is beauty everywhere, and that the Danish style just might not be as inescapable as it seems at first sight.

Greg Pease: If we look at the classic shapes that have been present from the beginning of pipe making, we can see a sort of delicate influence of evolution in style, with an overall design sensibility that remains quite true to the prototypes. There's a reason the classic shapes have survived for over 150 years without dramatic change. The Danish design trend that arguably began with Sixten Ivarsson and Paol Rasmussen introduced the pipe smoker to artful ideas that were, at the time, quite radical. Since that their seminal work, we've witnessed a more obvious evolution within that design school, with new makers expanding upon and refining the ideas presented in the modern pipes created in the late 1950s and later. Some makers have gone to some pretty wild extremes, while others have shown greater restraint.

Out of this movement have come some real innovators. These are makers who have set new standards with shape ideas. Most of these reach a niche market, and never quite develop the popular appeal that will result in these pipes becoming classics. Again, there are reasons billiards are still the most popular pipe shapes produced, sold, and smoked throughout the pipe's brief history.

Certainly, we're seeing some wonderful sculptural work produced, but there are certain limits to what can be done based on the necessary geometry of function, and practical considerations of size, weight and so on.

I see the future as a continuance of the sort of evolution we've already seen, but I'm not sure any earth shattering innovation will take place. So, I think of the future as more evolutionary than revolutionary, though there will certainly be exciting things to see.

One wonderful 'new' idea has been the incorporation of the mouthpiece as an integral part of the overall picture, rather than just a necessary attachment. Makers will explore different mouthpiece materials and treatments, I'm sure, but the final result will still be a pipe. One real influence the high-grade trend has had on the overall industry is a raising of the quality level overall. I think today's pipe smoker probably is a little more particular about the internal execution of a pipe than they were 100 years ago. This is probably a trend that will continue, and perhaps even factory pipes will benefit.

Mike Glukler: The more I see the words 'high grade' the more they somehow grate on my nerves. A Dunhill Shell is considered a high grade, an Ashton Pebble Grain is considered a high grade, W.O. Larsen Straight Grains are high grades. And the list goes on.

But what is a high grade? It is exactly what the words say, the high or highest grade of any given maker! A W.O. Larsen Pearl is their highest grade. An Ashton Sovereign Straight Grain would be the same, as would a Dunhill DR. Thus a Dunhill Shell is not a high grade, nor is a W.O. Larsen Selected or a Castello Sea Rock.

On the other hand - and depending on our personal definition of 'high quality - the lower and lowest grades of some makers might be considered 'high quality', but they cannot and should not be called 'high grade'. While the effort Paolo Becker exudes in a Royal Flush Elite or a single Spade grade is the same, and both are high quality smoking machines, the Spade is a low or mid grade in the maker's own scheme of things.

As we examine this, I suppose we must all split makers into groups. Mass producers, mid producers and small producers. Maybe even further - and re-split these into machine-made, machine-assisted and hand-made. To do this, however, the knowledge of what any given maker does to complete an item is needed - and here is the problem. How many really know who makes the pipes of any given maker? What steps does the maker do in-house, which has he farmed out, and how many pipes are done completely by one person? Lack of precise knowledge leaves the majority of collectors out of the loop so to speak.

So let us alter the question to ask whether we believe the Danes will dominate the high quality market? In a word: no. As there are high quality pipes from a number of other countries and definitions of high quality can vary, there can be no other answer. Right now, the collector focus is on the individual Scandinavian carvers. Bo, Lars, Jess, Heeschen, Kent, Ilsted and so on have a solid following, and I am sure this will continue with some or many collectors - but some will switch their focus to other makers. Let's not forget that, in the 1980's, Baldo Baldi pipes were hot and much sought after. In the 90's they waned, and now are starting to get more interest again. Collectors are sometimes a fickle group and some change with the wind. Also, we see more new and younger makers come to the forefront that may offer some high quality pieces - so collectors may expand their collecting scope to include some of these up and coming carvers.

As stated before, I also see the high quality German makers starting to get their dues. Barbi and Joura are held in high regard by many collectors, and I know a few that hold Barbi to be the world's best right now. We see that Mänz, the two Brandts, Reiner Thilo and others have started to garner a real interest worldwide, and not just in their home country or in small collector circles.

The pipe 'sculptors' have been around for a long time and have always had a following. Many, however, have also added classic or variations on classic shapes to their offerings to give themselves a wider audience. Sticking to the 'sculptural' shapes will always have some sort of following, but as the hours it takes to make one of these wonders must be paid for, the prices on many of these pipes tend to be out of the range of the average and, in some cases, above average collector. With this being the case, how can these makers get a larger share of the market without resorting to less sculptural work?

Jörg Lehmann: Erwin describes my preferences correctly. He's also right regarding my restricted collecting focus, but this is more limited by monetary reasons. Nevertheless, I naturally see many pipes on the market. In this way, I found the great Japanese pipes offered by Sykes. Most of the recent trends are known to me, as is their evolution from the past. I would nevertheless like to insist that the Danish style has left indelible traces. It just isn't conceivable that the few remaining pipe smokers remaining in 100 years time will smoke from sculptures! I rather lean towards the opinion expressed by Greg that there will be factory pipes with simple designs, just as there will be avant-garde smoking instruments. There will presumably be a great variety in the preferences of future pipe smokers in future, just like today.

(March 9, 2004)

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