Don Carlos XL Rusticated Canadian Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Don Carlos belongs to a historic lineage within Italian pipe making. The workshop was founded by Bruto Sordini (along with his wife Rosaria), who had previously made pipes for Mastro de Paja, where he also met Giancarlo Guidi. In 1981, Sordini and Guidi left Mastro de Paja to found their own workshop, Ser Jacopo. After years of making pipes at Ser Jacopo, Sordini once again departed to found a new venture, as he had ideas for shapes and styles that were quite different to Ser Jacopo’s established design philosophy. Sordini therefore created Don Carlos as a means of expressing this vision, resulting in pipes that are both quintessentially Italian, and bearing aesthetic that is wholly their own.

It is something of a minor tradition for Italian pipe makers to produce especially lengthy renditions of certain shapes—namely, the Canadian, the Liverpool, the Lovat, and the Lumberman. It’s not something that’s completely unique to Italy (Sasieni and its “Canadian” also comes to mind), but it’s more common in Italian pipes than anywhere else. From Brebbia and its “Iceberg” model, to Savinelli’s early shape 8004, to workshops and solo carvers, such as Mastro de Paja or Claudio Cavicchi, no other nation so consistently puts the “long” in “long shanks.” Canadian and lumberman shapes are prominent in the Sordinis’ Don Carlos portfolio, with this one being a very fine example. Rusticated Don Carlos pipes are most typically dressed in a dark, near-black finish, though there are a few that are given a more natural, tan dress, as in the case of this one. Now that I think about it, this positively golden specimen gives a good sense of why the Italians so commonly liken their rusticated pipes not just to sea rock, but to sea coral, too.

The condition is great. Some minor wear to the rim.

Details:

Length: 8″ / 203.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.68″ / 42.67mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g