Jarl
Jarl pibes was made my grandfather Niels Mogens Jørgensen. He had a little factory in the town Bramdrupdam, just outside Kolding, Denmark. :-)
"THE JARL BRAND IS A LITTLE KNOWN PIPE-MAKER IN DENMARK, THAT WAS STARTED BY "JARL CHIEFTAN". HE ALSO MAKES OTHER BRANDS OF PIPES, "CHIEFTAN" AND "MR. ANDERSON". HE GAINED HIS PIPE-MAKING EXPERTISE BY BEING AN APPRENTICE TO "SIXTEN IVARSSON". HE STARTED BY CLEANING, POLISHING AND REPAIRING PIPES AND THEN AFTER TWO YEARS BEGAN MAKING PIPES. HE DID THIS FOR SEVERAL YEARS UNTIL HE OPENED HIS OWN PIPE-MAKING SHOPPE."
Thanks for your input!
Now, if "Jarl Chieftan" was the maker of the "Mr. Anderson" pipes, his real name would be Jørgen Larsen, who started his label "Jørgen L." in the early 60's. Being one of the very best Danish carvers ever, he surely didn't waste his time on such crudely rusticated pipes with 4 digit series numbers...
I really doubt "Jarl Chieftan" is / was a natural person at all. Of course "Jarl" is used as a first name, but basically "jarl" is the synonym of English "earl" throughout the Scandinavian countries. The term comes from the Viking language and was used up to the High Middle Ages. Then the jarls began to call themselves "dukes". Mostly a jarl was appointed by a king to govern and to defend a border region. So, there is a strong parallel to the meaning of the term "chieftan" (leader of a tribe, leader in wartimes) as well.
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The pictures Nrs. 1 - 3 show Jarl pipes. Espesially 1 and 2 seem very, very similar to Nr. 4! And that's a Royal Danish-- hence a second made by Stanwell!
Surely, asuming Stanwell as maker of Jarl pipes is still a hypothesis. But a big producer of serial pipes appears to be more evident than a pipemaker working solo. (BTW, Jørgen Larsen managed the Stanwell pipe production for a while being the successor of his uncle Johann Larsen.)
Serious doubts about Jarl being a Stanwell seconds line and my supportive reasoning
First, I'd like to mention that I believe that "Jarl" is the brand name and "Chieftan" a line made by that brand. I have a handful of Jarls in my collection and not all bear the "Chieftan" nomenclature. While I concur that Jarl is not likely to be a person's actual name I completely disagree that they are Stanwell seconds. I think it is silly to say that this is so simply because they share the combination smooth grain/sandblast type of rustication. That type of rustication is typically Danish and is not a Stanwell trademark. For instance, Kriswell, another Danish name used this same type of rustication. Kriswell was an old Danish company that was later bought by Nording in the seventies and at neither point in its history has the name been affiliated in any way with Stanwell.
No, based on my own memory and conversations with other old timers, it is much more likely that Jarl is an old, stand alone company, that went defunct long ago. It probably existed around the time of the original pre-Nording Kriswell designs. Also, it has its own line of seconds under the name "Thayne". I ask myself, why would Stanwell name a line of seconds only to have that seconds line have its own line of seconds? It sounds very unlikely.
P.S. I don't mean to be rude but someone above called this method of rustication crude. People should be aware that this is simply that person's opinion and is probably the opinion of someone who doesn't know much about pipe manufacturing or wood finish work in general. I say this because this method of rustication is more complicated to execute than either your standard smooth grain or sandblast. It is actually a more advanced finish in that it requires a few more steps to complete. Let me explain. To achieve this finish the pipe must undergo the preparation work for a smooth grain finish, at least in the areas which are going to remain in that finish. A protective substance is then applied over the areas the pipe maker wishes to remain raised and smooth. After this is done the pipe is sandblasted as it normally would be to achieve a typical sandblast finish. The protective substance is then removed and the pipe polished and finished the rest of the way producing a pipe with a combination finish. Personally, I quite like this type of finish because I feel it is elegant, although I can think of much more imaginative ways to use it than the way it is used in the Danish styling, although, it should be noted that the Danish style leaves the areas gripped by the thumb and forefinger a smooth finish, which is comfortably utilitarian.
Respectfully yours,
--SUVONOGE Sept 27, 2012