Radice Wick Wax Drip Rusticated Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Radice is one of the great Italian workshop pipe makes, belonging to a historic lineage of such workshops. The company began as a family affair, being established in 1980 by Luigi Radice, along with his son, Gianluca, and father, Paolo. But Radice’s pip -making ‘family’ is a little larger than that. Prior to founding Radice, Luigi ran Caminetto, which he had founded with Guiseppe Ascorti in 1968. Prior to Caminetto, Radice had worked alongside Ascorti in the Castello factory, under the supervision of its owner, Carlo Scotti. It’s quite an impressive genealogy, which is clearly reflected in the quality of Radice pipes.

As is often the case with Italian workshop pipe making, Radice’s Wick has—or, rather, had—a precedent that went back decades before the Radice make even existed. In the Castello workshop, where Luigi Radice once worked, there was a series of pipes called the Epoca, whose defining feature was a carved “wax drip” finish around the bowl. The Epoca was, in a sense, inherited by Caminetto once Luigi Radice and Guiseppe Ascorti left Castello, where the two created their own homage to the finish, known as the New Dear. Then, after Caminetto’s first dissolution at the end of the 1970s, both the newly founded Ascorti and Radice workshops once again created their own series of wax drip pipes. Ascorti kept the New Dear nomenclature, whereas Radice opted for the appropriately named “Wick.” At some point, however, Radice discontinued the Wick, replacing it with the Underwood. The Underwood itself is similar to a wax drip motif, though it also often takes on slightly different guises, so I’m not sure I would call the two identical. In any case, this will, therefore, be an older Radice, and an example of the now-uncommon Wick series. What’s also interesting is that the rest of the design of this one is a lot closer to Caminetto’s style than contemporary Radice pipes, right down to the distinctive, asymmetric cut of its Lucite mouthpiece.

The condition is very good. Some minor darkening and small scratches on the rim. This pipe comes with its original box and sleeve.

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.91 / 23.11mm

Bowl Depth: 1.88″ / 47.75mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 48g