In the near five years I've worked both in this industry and for Smokingpipes — be it in the US or here in Europe — I've seen, handled, photographed, and described a lot of pipes by a lot of well known names in the pipe world. Despite that, it's always something very special when we receive a Sixten Ivarsson estate. Having done more to create modern artisan, high grade pipes than any other individual, Sixten's name rightly bears significant weight — even decades after carving his last pipe. Even discounting that pipe artisanry as we know it today wouldn't exist without Sixten moving shaping from the confines of the lathe to the freedom of the sanding disc, most artisan pipe makers working today can draw their linage in a straight line from themselves back to Sixten, with many — if not most — being taught to make pipes by someone who was taught by Sixten.

That the pipe in question — a long, sinuous rendition of the Belge/Cutty shape — is undoubtedly a thing of beauty in its own right is without question. There's a reason that Sixten's school of pipe-making gained the traction that it did, after all. A defiantly Danish interpretation of the old-school clay tavern pipes, its bowl rises proudly from the heel and low set transition, choosing to continue upwards to almost Chimney like height instead of sloping back against the forward cant (as many Danish versions of the shape do). Finished in a dark Danish sandblast that's just as sharp now as when it came out of the blasting cabinet fifty years ago, it's paired to a simple jet black stem, with a three knuckle stretch of reinforced bamboo between the two.

This is an extraordinarily well-made piece with fifty years under its belt since it came off of Sixten's bench in 1969, and besides some signs of ageing along the bamboo shank — a fact which is mitigated by the aluminium reinforcement — and a slight tooth mark at the underside of the stem, it's in excellent condition. It's a piece of artisanal pipe history, and with its original craftsmanship untarnished by time, sure to be a reliable smoker.

— Adam O'Neill