Baldo Baldi XL Smooth Freehand Dublin w/ Amber Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

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.

Baldo Baldi was not only skilled with briar and Lucite. For a select few of his works, he also applied himself to the careful carving of cultivated amber. One might say that he stood astride the centuries, having strong affinities with both the pioneering briar and meerschaum artisans of the 1800s as well as those in the post-war era. This pipe combines the flowing, rippling forms of Danish and Italian freehand scene, for example, with a bowl that moves wherever the briar takes it, with a mouthpiece cut from the aforementioned amber, evoking the upmarket 19th century pipes of CPF or WDC.

This pipe is completely unsmoked. It comes with its original sleeve.

 

Details:

Length: 6.0″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.91 / 23.11mm

Bowl Depth: 2.13″ / 54.10mm

Weight: 4.7oz / 136g