La Biota Rusticated Bent Egg Handmade Artisan Briar Pipe, Italy [SOLD OUT]

Description

A graduate of Italy’s prestigious Academia della Pipa, Michele Sottocasa has been making pipes for over a decade under the la Biota name. Prior to becoming a pipe-maker, Sottocasa trained and worked as a designer and art director, and la Biota pipes continue this drive towards a distinct aesthetic vision. The name, ‘la Biota,’ originally derives from ecology, and symbolizes the deep connection between humans and nature – a connection well represented by the hand-made tobacco pipe.

This la Biota leans towards the Danish tradition in hand made, artisan pipes, though it does so without being derivative. Some might call it an egg; some might call it a tulip. In either case, it is a beautiful shape, and it is dressed in a mixture of sandblasting and rustication that both looks and feels good. The rim is left smooth – a nice touch – and the stem is cumberland. It is also, as with most la Biota pipes, very lightweight, ensuring that it will be an easy clencher for its owner.

All la Biota pipes are made by hand by Michele Sottocasa in his workshop in the mountainous Northern region of Italy. Sottocasa prefers the wood lathe over the metal lathe traditionally used by pipe-makers, which he uses to painstakingly hand-shape each la Biota bowl, and hand-cut each la Biota stem. As Sottocasa strives to make each la Biota pipe unique and does not like to repeat shapes and design choices he has made in the past, every la Biota pipe is one of a kind – once it is gone, it is gone forever.

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″

Bowl Width: 18.9mm

Bowl Depth: 1.75″

Weight: 1.4oz / 41g