The Enigmatic Mr. Andersen

[rockvillepete]

I just picked up this Mr. Andersen Danish handmade and was wondering if anyone knew anything about these pipes. Some believe that Jorgen Larsen made them as an alternate line to the Peter Stokkebye Signatures he was cranking out at the time. However Dave Field, who I believe was the distributor for Jorgen L pipes states otherwise and says that Jorgen had nothing to do with Mr. Andersen pipes.

So who was this enigmatic Mr. Andersen? He certainly knew how to make a beautiful pipe judging from this one. The flame grain and contrast staining are marvelous, the fit and finish are first rate with one of the smoothest surfaces I’ve found in only a handful of pipes, and it's light in weight for its size. I have no idea what these originally retailed for but I got this one for a song. I haven’t fired it up yet but if it smokes half as good as it looks then it’s a deal at twice the price! ::

 

[misterlowercase]

Absolutely gorgeous pipe there!
I believe you are correct about its origins.
His stuff has been under the radar for a while,

but now beginning to gain recognition..
http://www.bisgaard-pipes.com/group.asp?group=1935&vat=false&lang=uk#.U0heBld7RsM
Great score,

that thing is truly beautiful.

 

[papipeguy]

That's a stunner for sure. Enjoy it and let us know how it smokes. Cheers.

 

[dmcmtk]

Pete, that is a beautiful pipe!!! I could easily see it as having been made by Jorgen Larsen, It looks exceptionally well done, both in terms of form and finish. I could be incorrect, but I doubt that is the original stem, or maybe what I should say, is that all of these pipes I have seen have had vulcanite stems. The pipe in the middle and on the right on pipedia are the same in terms of the quality of form and finish. You don't want to hear the extant I went to try to find more information about these pipes, without any definitive results. I was told, by a very well known collector/seller who bought some of these pipes when they were new, that some were made by Jorgen Larsen, and others by Nording. I must say your pipe looks more like something I would expect from Peter Stokkebye, and unlike anything I've seen from Nording. The one thing I can tell you, is that Soren Eric Andersen did not make these pipes, I had that information directly from Soren Eric Andersen.
Dave

 

[stbruno70]

A fabulous looking pipe. Enjoy it.

 

[rockvillepete]

Thanks everyone and thank you dmcmtk for the detective work! Very interesting that these pipes may have been a shared enterprise between Jorgen Larsen & Erik Nording. The fit and finish is of a very high caliber and very similar to the Peter Stokkebye Signatures that Jorgen produced.
If the stem is not original then it was definitely fitted by an expert. The shank is slightly oval and the stem matches the shape perfectly with a seamless transition from shank to stem. However, you may still be correct as I discovered that a pipe cleaner simply refuses to pass into the shank even with a bend in the end of the cleaner. This is disappointing and the pipe has a slight tendency to gurgle due to eddy currents introduced at the stem juncture causing condensation. I might send it to Walker Briar Works and see if Mike can do something with it or fit another stem.

 

[dmcmtk]

Here are some more details from Soren Eric Andersen,
"They were

commissioned by Remo Sørensen, who had several pipeshops

in Copenhagen in the seventies/ eighties.

I know that Larsen from larsen & Stigart made some of them,

but there will have been more pipemakers involved.

These pipe were with filling and standard mouthpiece, but a

decent quality, and a fair price, but I

have never made as much as one of them in my whole life."
So, it appears the pipes were sourced from several different carvers independently.

 

[peacemaker1]

It's cool to see the photographs that I took of this Mr. Anderson pipe here and know that the new owner likes the pipe. I had owned the pipe for over 20 years, maybe longer. I hadn't smoked it in probably over 10 years. The pipe came to me with the stem that it is pictured with and it looked to me to be original. However, it did have the problem the new owner mentions. I have been letting go of a few of the pipes from my over 300 herd as there just comes a time to pass a few on and I still have PAD every once in awhile. Hope you enjoy it for many years to come.