Ascorti Cool Business Reverse Calabash Poker Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Ascorti belongs to a historic lineage in Italian artisan pipe-making. Guiseppe ‘Peppino’ Ascorti was first employed as a pipe-maker in the 1950s, in Carlo Scotti’s Castello workshop in Cantu. There he met Luigi Radice, and in the 1960s the two decided to leave Castello to create their own pipe-making workshop, under the name ‘Caminetto.’ At the end of the 1970s, Guiseppe Ascorti and Luigi Radice left Caminetto and once more decided to start new ventures. Luigi Radice founded the Radice pipe workshop, and Guiseppe’s son Roberto Ascorti, who had also worked in the Caminetto workshop since he was a child, decided to create a workshop under his own name. Roberto was joined not only by his father, but also many of the talented craftsmen who had formerly worked for Caminetto. In 1980, the Ascorti workshop was born.

To my knowledge, Ascorti is one of the very few major Italian pipe workshops to incorporate reverse calabashes into some of their designs—in fact, they may well be the only major workshop to have explored this distinct modern trend. Just as a traditional gourd calabash has a hollow cavity under its chamber that allows heat and moisture to disperse before it passes through the pipe’s stem, a reverse calabash is a similar opening within a pipe’s shank. This allows for a cool, dry smoke, while also allowing for the pipe to be a more manageable size than its gourd counterpart. That’s certainly true for this nosewarmer length reverse calabash poker from Ascorti, which adds the workshop’s signature Business rustication to lend an extra flair to this already highly unique piece.

The condition is great. Just a couple of small, minor patches of darkening on the rim.

 

Details:

Length: 4.4″ / 111.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.47″ / 37.33mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g