Baldo Baldi XL Smooth Swan Dublin 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.

The avian world has a long history as a source of inspiration for pipe design, whether by the intentions of pipe makers, or by associations made by pipe smokers, which in turn have become both part of a common lexicon and a collective resource for pipe makers to further draw upon. There are plenty of egg shapes, for example, including the famous “Peewits” of Sixten Ivarsson, but there are also the “Ducks” of Sven Knudsen, the “Sparrows” of Tonni Nielsen, and the “Flamingos” of Tonino Jacono. If there is one bird that has had the greatest impact on pipes, however, it would be the swan. Few birds are quite as regal and elegant as swans (provided one is observing from a safe distance), and it is not surprising that “swan neck” pipes have been around for over a century, nor that pipe makers as diverse as Sven Knudsen, Kei Gotoh, and J. Alan would pursue their own vision of the Cygnus in briar. Italy’s Baldo Baldi had his own ideas regarding the swan, or at least the swan neck, as a point of reference in pipes, carving them with such careful, graceful curves that it still mystifies me, especially considering his famously low-tech setup. Such is the case with this one, combining such with Baldi’s hallmark use of broad panels and general mastery when it came to grain, with the result being a genuine work of art.

This pipe is completely unsmoked. Some slight scratches on the bowl, though nothing major.

Details:

Length: 6.9″ / 175.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.91 / 23.11mm

Bowl Depth: 2.07″ / 52.57mm

Weight: 3.9oz / 112g