Savinelli Autograph (5) Partially Sandblasted Stacked Bent Billiard (Estate)

It is probably fair to say that Savinelli is Italy’s most famous pipe brand. Founded in Milan in 1876 by Achille Savinelli, the brand has continuously offered high quality pipes for nearly 150 years. Though various Savinelli lines have come and gone over the years, the brand has always been notable for putting out classically styled pipes with a distinctly Italian twist.

Like the Charatan freehand workshop in mid-20th century England, or Tsuge’s Ikebana workshop in late 20th century and 21st century Japan, Savinelli has its own, special area of the company’s campus reserved for master artisans, where non-standard pipe shapes are carved using techniques that are closer to handicraft than mechanized, mass production. The top of the line pipes produced in this workshop are the Savinelli Autograph pipes. Sometimes, these are hand-turned re-imaginings of more classic designs; other times, they’re pipes that are a little more like the Danish “fancy” freehands of Preben Holm et al.; and, most often, Autographs are somewhere in between, embodying a distinctly Italian approach to handmade pipes that sits about halfway between the English and Danish styles.

This would be a good example of the latter, or perhaps even closest to a “Savinelli style” design as far as freehand pipes go. The shaping is not entirely divorced from the bent billiards of the Anglo-French tradition, albeit with proportions that have been pulled in directions that are very much beyond the norm. Most striking is the bowl section, whose hefty, towering form brings the overall design into “mini-magnum” territory. The finishing is similarly hybrid in nature, placing patches of fine, angel hair straight grain against the background of a dense, ring grain relief.

The condition is good. Some inner rim darkening, slight finish fading, and some slight residual oxidation on the pipe’s vulcanite mouthpiece.

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 154.9mm

Bowl Width: 0.96 / 24.38mm

Bowl Depth: 2.52″ / 64.00mm

Weight: 3.4oz / 98g