W. O. Larsen 121 AR ??

[rockvillepete]

Last week while looking through Esterval’s Pipe House’s website I came across this very nice W. O. Larsen tall bent Dublin with horn shank extension and couldn’t resist adding it to my Larsen collection.

The pipe was listed as a 121 AR and on the front of the shank where it joins the horn extension is a stamping that reads 121 AR. Usually the class or grade of pipe is stamped in this location, i.e. STRAIGHT GRAIN, SELECT, SUPER but I’ve never seen AR.

On the back of the shank is the usual W. Ø. LARSEN | HANDMADE | MADE IN DENMARK stamping used from the early-mid 70’s onward. There’s no grade or model number (I assume 121 is the model).

Does anyone know what the AR stands for or denotes? I’ve done a Google search and the only relevant data returned is this pipe’s listing on Esterval’s site so I’m guessing 121 or AR were not common Larsen designations.
I have no idea who made this one but I came across a very similar pipe listed on finepipes.com that was made by Sven Knudsen (Teddy’s older brother) who was Larsen’s manager and made many of their pipes in the early 1960’s.

This one is more recent, probably from the 1980’s or later. If anyone knows anything about the AR stamping or this shape in general, please give a holler! This one's a mystery to me.

 

[misterlowercase]

That is a seriously nice pipe,

I can see why it was hard to resist,

it's a knockout!
Congrats!

::
I'm not too hip with the Larsen stuff, but I read a bit of Swedish and noticed that the A is actually Å and adding the R would make it a word which means year...
...so I would guess this:
1864 + 121 = 1985
Not sure if 1864 is the founding date but a quick search yielded that number?
Regardless,

it is a very fine pipe,

enjoy!

::
...more about that å:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%85
.

 

[dmcmtk]

Nice pipe, based on Sven Knudsen's shape 48, which can be seen on page 27 of the 1963 W.O. Larsen catalog here,
http://www.danishpipemakers.com/pdf/wo1.pdf
I think what mlc is saying makes sense, the 1864 date is correct.

 

[mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast]

I don't own a bent pipe, but if I did; I kind of wish it was that one. Congrats!

 

[rockvillepete]

Thanks so much all! It never occurred to me that AR could be a word meaning "year" in Danish and Swedish. Now it makes sense. Not sure what the significance of 1864 is but the pipe being made in 1985 sounds right. Sven Knudsen's original is gorgeous but the price tag is a little too hefty. Besides I love the horn shank on this one.

 

[dmcmtk]

1864; this,

W.O. Larsen was a tobacconist in Copenhagen, Denmark, starting in 1864. The shop became known worldwide as their blends made their way outside Denmark.

 

[jazz]

I know nothing other than it is beautiful.

 

[rockvillepete]

Thank you sir! I thought it might be when W. O. Larsen began but didn't think they went back that far.

 

[dmcmtk]

Some interesting information from noted Larsen collector Rob Cooper,

The second period (Mid 1970's to the mid to late 1980's) is the most famous period, as this is the era of Teddy Knudsen, Tonni Nielsen, and Former Nielsen, along with the occasional pipe crafted by Jess Chonowitsch, Peter Hedegaard, PH Vigen, and a few others. These pipes were stamped "W.O. Larsen Hand Made in Denmark" with no "Copenhagen" stamping. The staining of the bowls were more varied than the era before. The pipes crafted during this time began to show a more refined shaping, and the use of adornment materials expanded from lighter colored horn to now a darker color, bamboo, ivory, amber composite both for trim and stem work, and later in this period, some exotic hardwood for the trim, as Ole had explained to me that ivory was not as stable on airplane shipping and would sometimes arrive cracked. The pipes of this era are the most commonly found.