Knudsen, Sven: Difference between revisions

[[Image:KnudsenS1.jpg|right|]]'''Sven Knudsen''', elder brother of '''[[Teddy Knudsen]]''', is without a doubt, one of the most important and influential of the early Danish freehand pipemakers.

'''[[Poul Rasmussen]]''', who was hardly more than an apprentice at the time, and still being instructed in pipemaking by '''[[Sixten Ivarsson]]''', who for his part was about to leave and join '''Poul Nielsen''' (→ [[Stanwell]]), introduced him to the famous '''[[Suhr's Pibemageri]]''' (pipe workshop) in 1956. Sven Knudsen, as all the others too, started with repairing pipes. But revealing enormous talent, dedication, and  diligence, soon proceeded to make complete pipes on his own. And all too soon a considerable share of responsibility for the workshop was placed on his shoulders because Poul Rasmussen was not only an exceptionally gifted pipemaker, but also a very worldly and gregarious man who left the workbench often enough to join some jovial company for a nice chat and a glass of beer. So Sven Knudsen ended up designing many of the shapes and carving many of the pipes subsequently identified with and credited to Rasmussen. At Suhr's, he hired and trained '''Hans Jonny Nielsen''', who later became famous under his nickname [[Former]]. (They remained friends for the rest of Sven's life.)

The pipes, stamped "Dantonian - Handicraft of Copenhagen", became very popular and a considerable success in sale. But even though the fraternal company broke apart after ca. 2½ years. Teddy left in early 1973 to pursue his own way. Sven Knudsen moved to Næstved in southern Sealand where he continued to make pipes under the Dantonian name for some years.

Having retired from active pipe making, Sven fell into a degree of obscurity, to the point where few collectors knew of his work, much less his pivotal role in the development of the Danish pipe. When Sam Goldberger of [http://www.finepipes.com finepipes.com] was visiting Denmark in 2003, at the suggestion of Lars Kiel of [http://www.Danishpipemakers.com Danishpipemakers.com] he asked Teddy about his older brother, and was given an introduction. He visited Sven at his house, took pictures of some of his remaining pipes, and then sold many (7 or 8 acc. to Sven's wife Margit) of them at cost on his website. Subsequently, Teddy picked up the last group of pipes from Sven's workshop, finished and stamped them, and Goldberger again offered them to his customers at cost. (Some of Sven's pipes can sometimes be found on ebay.com).

[[Image:KnudsenS3.jpg|left|]] Sven Knudsen stamped his pipes "S. Knudsen" and with a logo depicting the head of an ancient Corsican wearing a bandeau. This was also a hint to the origin of his briar he personally selected from the saw-mill. A grading was not used but of course - Who told such nonsense? - he used more than one color to stain his pipes!

It might be something of a secret, but Sven was a gifted artist in other media. His pencil drawings were very true to life and his oil paintings exuberant with colour. He made beautiful necklaces from natural materials such as amber, bone, wood and even on occasion claws. These he made for his adoring daughter, wife and mother in law. In his youth he had been a keen hunter and marksman. He was able to use the trophies from these trips in his art, for example making  sculptures of trolls and animals.

'''''Thanks to Samuel Goldberger of [http://www.finepipes.com/ Finepipes.com] for the use of his materials in the development of this article.'''''