Baldo Baldi Sandblasted Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Baldo Baldi was one of those rare and extraordinary pipe makers who, like Bo Nordh or Tom Eltang, was so highly regarded that someone wrote an entire book about the man and his work (that book being Il sono Baldo Baldi, by the renowned architect, author, and Italian pipe authority, Diego Morlin).

Baldi was born in 1947 and died in 2021. He was trained as an artist and an architect, electing to pursue the latter for his career but, ultimately, he would end up instead becoming professional pipe maker, which he remained until his passing. Not unlike his contemporary Claudio Cavicchi, Baldi’s pipe making was born out of necessity—a necessity for more pipes, to which most of us can relate. Unlike Cavicchi, however, who began making pipes because they took too long to arrive, Baldi’s pipe making was a result of simply not having enough money for the ones he wanted—again, something very relatable. When his local tobacconists saw the pipes Baldi had made for himself, they were so enamored that they requested that he make pipes for them to sell in their stores. All of this took place while Baldi was still pursing his architectural studies, but a momentum would quickly build to the point where Baldi’s career as an architect was quickly usurped by a full-time pipe making vocation.

This particular Baldi is a wonderfully crisp, ring grain sandblasted billiard. What is perhaps most interesting about Baldi, especially when it comes to eminently traditional shapes like this one, is that Baldi eschewed almost all of the machinery that would typically be used in crafting one. Aside from a drill and a buffing wheel (and, in this instance, presumably a sandblasting cabinet), Baldi eschewed even those technologies that most artisans would typically use. Aside from the drilling of the draft hole and the final steps of finishing the pipe, Baldi crafted his works using manual tools, such as hand files and sandpaper. Yet Baldi was such a prodigious craftsman that one would be hard pressed to differentiate his pipes from a similarly high-grade piece from another maker that had been principally constructed using motorized lathes and belts. But, that was Baldi, and that’s a good part of why there’s a 200 page book written entirely about his life and work.

The condition is great. Very minor inner rim darkening.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.81″ / 45.97mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g