Ib Olsen
Ib Olsen worked with Jess Philip Vigen, Per Hansen and Ulf Noltensmeier as was one of the craftsmen of Svend Bang. As such, he had the same opportunity to develop his abilities and demonstrate his skills. Olsen's pipes were a bit less traditional and more imaginative than those of his pipe making peers at S. Bang at that time, and Svend Bang was reluctant to introduce Olsen's pipes under the S. Bang name. For this reason Olsen's pipes were sold under the Ib Olsen name, and he proved to be a prolific and innovative craftsman. If Svend Bang had lived long enough perhaps he would have seen that Olsen's more imaginative shapes had been taken up by other pipemakers, embraced by the market, and that many are still seen as influential in high grade artisan pipes of today.
Many of the Ib Olsen pipes used the same Cumberland for mouthpieces and silver ring embellishments as were used on the S.Bang pipes of that era. They were also stamped similarly, with roman numerals: I, II, III, IV, V, and were also priced the same as the pipes branded S. Bang. After Svend's passing, Per Hansen and Ulf Noltesnmeier took over the S. Bang brand, and Phil Vigen continues his work under the his name (Ph. Vigen), while Ib Olsen retired into private life, with the few pipes that bare his name being hard to find.
Giuseppe Albaneseo
- see the Discussion tab for a different angle on Ib Olsen.