Poul Ilsted Bech

Poul Ilsted Bech (d. 2017) is a Danish pipe maker who stamped his pipes simply with the name "Ilsted." He was known for a technique of working the chamber and shank into a series of intersecting flat planes; among collectors he is called "The Facet Master." Having learned the trade at the country's founding workshops ties him to the second generation of the Danish school tradition. Sources give his birth year as 1946.

From Apprenticeship to His Own Bench

Ilsted entered the trade not through formal training but through his own experimentation; he picked up knowledge of molds and proportion by reading whatever pipe publications came his way and drawing shapes. His starting point was Erik Nørding: Nørding sold him a few briar blocks and explained the path to follow at the finishing stage. When the resulting pieces convinced the master, Ilsted decided to take up the trade and worked for a time in Nørding's workshop.

According to the reported work history, his next stop was the newly established pipe factory in Svendborg, on the island of Fyn, where he worked with Jens "Tao" Nielsen for about two years. After a brief return to Nørding, he moved to the W.Ø. Larsen workshop in Copenhagen. At Larsen, production was based on a weekly quota, and a maker who completed his quota early could devote the remaining time to his own pipes; this arrangement is considered to have fueled the working pace common among Larsen's makers of the period.