Ser Jacopo L2 Smooth Rhodesian Sitter Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

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.

Being part of the Pesaro school, many Ser Jacopo pipes lean toward traditional forms, albeit with an added emphasis on finery, such as ornate mounts and accents. But the Ser Jacopo workshop is one that is also heavily influenced by the arts, from the old masters of the Italian Renaissance to the avant-garde painters of 19th and 20th century Europe. The latter are often explicitly cited as inspirations for Ser Jacopo’s more unusual designs, though this is not always the case, and some Ser Jacopo pipes push boundaries in ways that aren’t reducible to a single precedent. This one, for example, is highly unconventional, even compared to many of Ser Jacopo’s contemporaries, blending elements of the Rhodesian, the cutty, the horn, and the sitter in ways that are slightly reminiscent of the early post-war Danish artisans, though which does not appear to be rooted in any specific pipe from that period. But, like the many hybrids created by the Danes, it works, resulting in something that is distinctive and fun but no less beautiful for it. The briar is good, too, with cross-grain and bird’s-eye dancing around the bowl of a consistency worthy of Ser Jacopo’s higher-end, light natural “L2” (“Liscia 2”) finish and grade.

This pipe is completely unsmoked and comes with its original sleeve.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.89 / 22.60mm

Bowl Depth: 2.08″ / 52.83mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g