Celius

Celius is the pipe workshop Svend Axel Celius founded in 1963 on Denmark's small island of Bogø. The brand was born during the years when postwar Danish pipes were rising in the American market, and it was among the first to profit from that rise. The maker's name is best remembered today for the Chess series, graded after chess pieces.

From Suhr's Workshop to His Own Factory

Records indicate Celius began his career around 1959-60 at Suhr's Pibemageri in Copenhagen. This workshop was one of the early centers of the hand-shaping approach known as the Danish school. He trained under Poul Rasmussen and the workshop's foreman, Sven Knudsen. A few years later he left to start his own business, moving his production into a former dairy building in Bogø By.

The years the factory was founded coincide with the period when interest in Danish-made freehand pipes was growing rapidly in the United States. Celius was among the first Danes able to ship such pipes overseas in meaningful numbers. Smaller quantities also went to Germany, though the brand's real recognition took shape in the American market. At its most productive, the factory employed close to twenty workers. Contract production for the Copenhagen house of W. Ø. Larsen is also said to have taken place during the same period.