Peter Hedegaard
(1951 - 2007)

Peter Hedegard, born in 1951, has to be ranked among first-class freehand pipe makers with the likes of Poul Ilsted and Jens Tao Nielsen for example. Peter Hedegaard started his pipe making career at W.O. Larsen, where he worked together with Tonni Nielsen and Phil Vigen. Until the end he was one of the craftsmen producing pipes for W.O. Larsen’s “Straight Grain” series.

On the other hand, and much more exciting, are his distinct “free” shapes with a high recognition value. Hedegaard has developed a characteristic bowl-to-shank-relation which makes the bowl (often in a spherical or trumpet-like fashion, sometimes comparable to a bulldog) look as if it were separated from the shank. But actually the connection is very fluently executed, and frequently the bowl is slightly slanted. His pipes often have a squat, compact look, and can comfortably be held in the mouth day after day.

The pipes are graded as follows (ascending): sandblasted, FP 1 – 3, OP 1 – 3. Sporadically, especially brilliant pieces are stamped B, A, or AA. Pipes for the Scandinavian market are frequently ungraded. The pipes are stamped: “PETER HEDEGAARD” and “HANDMADE IN DENMARK”, with the grading above the stamp most of the time.