L’Anatra Ventura Speeding Poker Smooth Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

L’Anatra pipes are made by the artisan duo Massimo Palazzi and Andrea Pascucci in northern Italy’s Pesaro region. Those with some familiarity with Italian pipes will likely recognize that particular region, as it is the home of what has come to be known as the “Pesaro School” of high-grade pipe making. Through its close network of artisans and workshops, Pesaro has been an epicenter for some of the finest pipes in Europe, including those of Mastro de Paja, Ser Jacopo, Le Nuvole, and—of course—L’Anatra.

L’Anatra’s Ventura series originally started out as a way for Palazzi and Pascucci to craft high-grade, handmade renditions of more traditional shapes, such as Rhodesians or bent billiards. Over time, however, it’s clear that the two started to experiment a little with these renditions, introducing novel variations to tried and true classics. This one, for example, could be seen as blending the old cherrywood and poker shapes, but the result is something decidedly modern. In fact, I’m more reminded of Le Nuvole and Maurizio Tombari’s incredibly unique “Zed” shapes than, say, something out of a Dunhill shape chart. But that’s not a bad thing by any means. While not quite as avant-garde as the Zed, Palazzi and Pascucci’s shaping here gives the poker a kind of “speeding” aesthetic, not unlike the sense of motion that one finds in certain contemporary Danish, Japanese, and American artisan pipes (though, even within those contexts, a “speeding sitter” is quite adventurous). This is only furthered by the pipe’s flame grain, which appears to the eyes as being carried along by the force of the pipe’s “movement.”

This pipe is also completely unsmoked, and comes with its original box and sleeve.

 

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.91 / 23.11mm

Bowl Depth: 1.63″ / 41.40mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 74g