Jens Quistgaard "Super Tall Hourglass" Pepper Mill

An early, first production, example of Jens Quistgaard's model number 893 pepper mill, made in Denmark by Dansk Designs Ltd.

quistgaardpepper.com, the authority on Quistgaard’s mills states they’ve only ever seen the super tall hourglass mill with plastic grinders, and relatively few examples like this one that were produced in Denmark. Rather, most 893’s were manufactured during the later production runs in Thailand and Malaysia. Maren Lankford & Alexander Severin suggest this means that the 893 is probably one of Quistgaard’s last mill designs. [1]

Without doubt, it is the largest mill from his series of around 60 designs, standing a humongous 41.5 cm tall.

Despite the 893’s strikingly large proportions, its ergonomic form, carved from solid teak, makes operating it effortless. 

The curvaceous hourglass shaped silhouette, reminiscent of a baseball bat, can be grabbed, held, and twisted at whatever point is most comfortable for the user. 

We find it most satisfying to place the rounded end of the mill in the palm of our hand and this positioning makes us feel that the mill must have been inspired by the oversized pepper mills that are sometimes experienced in Italian restaurants.

If only it was the 893 that servers used, we might be less irritated by someone else peppering our food before we’ve even tasted how peppery or not the dish is.

[1] Maren Lankford & Alexander Severin are the authors of www.quistgaardpepper.com