Il Ceppo 2004 Natale Smooth Rhodesian w/ Silver Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Founded by the architect Giorgio Imperatori in Pesaro, Italy, Il Ceppo is a workshop that produces high-end, handmade pipes, and a central figure in what has been called the “Pesaro school” of pipe design. This “school” was inaugurated in the 1970s with the emergence of workshops such as Imperatori’s Il Ceppo and Giacarlo Guidi’s Mastro de Paja, with each of its “members” being based in, or having some connection to, the town of Pesaro on Italy’s Adriatic coast. The Pesaro school is not simply a matter of shared location, however; there are common stylistic threads between member workshops and, quite often, individuals who have been part of more than one such workshop at different points in time.

With Il Ceppo, typically the most noticeable “Pesaro” aspect of the workshop’s pipes is a certain classical inclination, with designs that aren’t too far from the Anglo-French tradition, albeit with a more refined, handmade touch. Such is certainly true for this one, though it’s also a little more refined than even other Il Ceppo pipes. That’s because it was a limited edition pipe, made for Christmas (in Italian, Natale) in 2004. As far as Italy goes, annual and limited edition pipes are today most readily associated with Savinelli, though there have been points in time where its artisan workshops have done similar, though with a much smaller production volume. From the Domina series of Ser Jacopo to the Event series of Caminetto, such pipes are generally quite special, with grain and finery closer to the limited edition pipes of, say, Dunhill in England. That’s certainly the case for this Il Ceppo, which I imagine will have made for a wonderful Christmas gift all those years ago.

The condition is great. Minor inner rim darkening and slight handling marks. This pipe comes with its original sleeve.

Details:

Length: 5.5″ / 139.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.77 / 19.55mm

Bowl Depth: 1.50″ / 38.10mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g