Knudsen, Sven: Difference between revisions

'''[[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.)

In 1959 Sven had had enough of the unfavorable situation with Rasmussen and left. He then furnished a small workshop of his own in Copenhagen and began to work on his own. He sold his pipes to some of the most prestigious Copenhagen P&T shops such as '''[[W.Ø. Larsen]]''', '''[[Poul Olsen]]''' (of "My Own Blend" fame) and '''[[Pibe-Dan]]'''. The house catalogs featured his pipes prominently for many years. From the Pibe-Dan catalog 1961/1962:

Image:KnudsenS_13.jpg|<font size="1">Flat Cut & Aslant shape</font>

Image:KnudsenS_14.jpg|<font size="1">Walrus & Square Bowl shape</font>

Image:KnudsenS_15.jpg|<font size="1">Swan & Duck shape</font>

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Furthermore he was contacted by '''Svend Bang''', Ole Larsen's Store manager and right-hand man, who offered him a position as workshop foreman at the newly established W.Ø. Larsen workshop. BTW, '''Ole Larsen''', the proprietor, and Sven Knudsen became very close friends. Under the aegis of Sven Knudsen W.Ø. Larsen pipes became one of the bedrocks of the Danish freehands!

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.

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Sixten Ivarsson, who cherished Sven's work very much, introduced Sven's pipes to his Japanese business friends and customers. Hence no wonder-- thanks to Sixten's personal recommendation and due to their outstanding quality Sven's pipes quickly became very popular in Japan. Very popular? It would be much better to call it an enormous hype. As Sven's daughter Marianne later reported, her parents' house in the countryside was beleaguered by Japanese customers who would come to stay in the country for weeks at a time, some of them living in a large caravan next to the house while waiting patiently for her father to get some pipes finished. They used up all the hot water from the heater, taking long baths every day. Watching all the usual habits of the Japanese way of life like eating raw fish and seaweed must surely have been a very odd sight in the eyes of a young Danish girl at those times. Sven's daughter now visits Japan when possible, as she later became a big fan of Japanese art, food, books, movies etc....Thanks to the early introduction by her fathers Japanese friends and customers.  

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From 1973 to 1997 Sven Knudsen was considered one of the best pipe artisans worldwide and continued to make his highly praised pipes, which were mainly sold directly to private customers and a few selected traders.

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