Baldo Baldi Smooth Panel Hawkbill Sitter 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.

As seen in a few other recent listings and indeed as one can see across his portfolio, Baldo Baldi’s architectural training appears to have had a certain import on his approach to pipe design. This can be seen in his liberal use of facets and panels, which he incorporated into creations that, even when they were not especially tall, nonetheless had a towering stature to them. A particular favorite motif of Baldi’s was -four-paneled sitter bowls, which he blended with elements of various other shapes to unique effect. This one, for example, takes the familiar figure of the Italian “hawkbill” as far as the shaping and curvature of its stem and shank go, yet this figure culminates in a sturdy, and quite assertive, box of a bowl. Of course, being a Baldi pipe, this unconventional blending of shapes and staples also happens to feature incredible straight grain, which Baldi managed to use in different ways depending on which section of the stummel this grain expressed itself through. The main body of the bowl is four walls of tight, parallel striations, whereas the shank gives these fibers a chance to show off a gentler, subtler side, which proceeds right the way up to the base of the pipe’s stem.

The condition is very good. Some minor inner rim darkening and a couple of very small, slight scratches on the bowl. This pipe comes with its original sleeve.

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.87 / 22.09mm

Bowl Depth: 1.47″ / 37.33mm

Weight: 3.1oz / 88g