Preben Holm's innovative freehand designs were one of the driving forces behind the Danish craze of the 1970's in the United States. Preben was able to bring handmade, high quality freehand pipes to the market at a price that many smokers could afford. Sadly, Preben passed away in 1989, but he leaves behind a great legacy of fine pipes that were uniquely his own.
Like many great carvers in Denmark, Preben started out carving pipes for "Pipe Dan", a very famous shop in Copenhagen. From Per Billhall's excellent site, Scandinavian Pipes, we have this information:
"Another workshop that has to be mentioned here is Pibe-Dan (Pipe-Dan), which unfortunately closed in 1991. Pipe-Dan was the Mekka for lovers of hand made pipes made by individual pipe makers. Pipe-Dan sold many of the leading Danish Pipemakers pipes in the Store. Even some of the unknown pipe makers sold their first pipes in Pipe-Dan before they became famous. Pipe-Dan would always let the pipemaker stamp his own name in it along with the Pipe-Dan name."
This particular pipe is one such pipe. Made by Preben Holm in the very early years of his pipe making, it is stamped "P. HOLM" on the bottom of the shank. From the information I have gathered, Preben's relationship with Pipe Dan lasted from approximately 1963 (when he was around 16) until 1966 or 1967, when he changed direction in his pipemaking and started producing the wild, grain-following freehands for which he is known. To find an early Preben such as this is something of a rarity; they just aren't seen every day, and the number of the pipes he made for Pipe Dan are dwarfed by his annual output just a few years later.
Although this piece is nothing like his more common freehands, it represents an interesting piece of Preben Holm history. The shape is a "Shape Reformed" 1/8th bent acorn/Dublin. The graining is decent flamegrain on the right and front of the bowl but it does wash out quite a bit on the left side. While it's not a museum piece, it IS in solid condition and is sure to be a great smoker.
Markings read: DAN, SHAPE RXXXXXED, PIPE-DAN, PIPE DAN, COPXXXXGEN, 48P, 755, P. HOLM. X's indicate where the nomenclature is too weak to make out; for the most part, the nomenclature is weak, but certain areas, such as the shape number and the P. HOLM stamping are solid and fully readable. Measurements: 5 1/4" long, bowl is just about 1 1/4" wide and 1 7/8" tall. The pipe weighs 25 grams. About a Dunhill group 3 in capacity.
Condition:
7.75 out of 10. Stem appears original and has just one tiny pinprick toothmark on the top. Issues: The inner rim chamfer has some moderate rounding; the rim itself has some moderate darkening; the outer rim edge has a number of tiny knock marks and dings, many of which have been smoothed over the years; the pipe has a couple very slight, small handling marks here and there. The main issue is the nomenclature: It's been buffed, and much of it (as indicated above with X's) is unreadable or very light. Still, there are other areas of the nomenclature that are still deep and fully readable, including the P. HOLM stamp on the bottom of the shank. The value in this pipe is the history; Pipe Dan Prebens just aren't seen every day, and when they are, they're snatched up rather quickly. All cleaned up and ready to go. Most Pipe Dan pipes from lesser makers fetch about $100; mint Preben Pipe Dans go for $200 or more. Here the pipe is priced correctly considering the issues.
