Ser Jacopo Delecta Maxima R2 Rusticated Rhodesian Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Ser Jacopo is one of the most famous contemporary examples of high-grade, workshop-made Italian pipes. It also belongs to a very special tradition in Italian pipe-making, having been established by Giancarlo Guidi and Bruno Sordini after the two had left another great Italian workshop, Mastro de Paja. Together, Guidi and Sordini created a brand of pipes that reflected their Renaissance sensibilities – even the figurehead of Ser Jacopo happens to be taken from a painting of a nobleman from centuries past—one that would soon become esteemed for creating unique and beautiful tobacco pipes that smoked just as perfectly as they looked.

Originally, the Ser Jacopo workshop used the Latin designation “Maxima” for their over-sized pipes. I’m not entirely sure when, but as Ser Jacopo’s over-sized pipes became even larger, it became standard practice to increase the number of “Maxima” stamps on a pipe, up to a possible eight “Maxima”s for the very largest. This Ser Jacopo is a relatively early pipe from the workshop, and given that it is nearly 7 inches in length, today it might receive more than just the one Maxima designation.

I say “early” as this particular Ser Jacopo comes from before 1994, during the first 10 or so years that the workshop was in operation, and during which time Giancarlo Guidi was firmly at the helm. As I’ve mentioned in previous listings, Ser Jacopo pipes went through a number of different stem logos over the decades, beginning as a gold-mounted gemstone (now used solely for ultra-high-grades), then a silver-mounted red sea coral dot (soon abandoned due to trademark disputes), then an un-mounted red sea coral dot, then a red plexiglass dot (now used solely for more affordable sub-brands like La Fuma and Modica), and finally the silver “J” on Ser Jacopo pipes today. This one features a coral dot which, as also previously estimated, was discontinued and swapped for the silver “J” around 1994, as EU conservation legislation was introduced around that time to protect endangered coral species (or, possibly, as early as 1989, when similar legislation was introduced in Sardinia, where red sea coral was predominantly harvested).

The pipe itself is an interesting design, situated about halfway between the early Pesaro school aesthetic and the more grandiose leanings of Ser Jacopo from the late 1990s onward. At heart, it’s a relatively traditional Rhodesian, for example, though the positioning of its partial, pebble-dash rustication and the Delecta mount gesture at more lofty ambitions—pipes worthy of their Renaissance influences.

The condition is very good. Some slight inner rim darkening and general finish fading, though nothing major.

Details:

Length: 6.7″ / 170.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.97″ / 50.03mm

Weight: 2.5oz / 72g