Ser Jacopo La Fuma Melolontha Smooth Rhodesian Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates, 9mm

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 well as they looked.

Next to Rinaldo, Ser Jacopo is possibly the second most complex of the Italian high-grade workshops to understand in terms of nomenclature. The pipes are beautiful, so explanation might be considered superfluous, but I will do so anyway (even if only for my own enjoyment).
First, while this is a Ser Jacopo pipe, it is also a “La Fuma” Ser Jacopo pipe. La Fuma could be considered a sub-brand of sorts, having been introduced in the 1990s when. As the quality of Ser Jacopo pipes continued to increase with every year, a designation was required for pipes whose grain patterns did not quite reach the ever-higher level expected of a main-line Ser Jacopo pipe. The closest analogy would be something like Sasieni, rather than Dunhill and Parker, whereby pipes that were not quite at the level of a Four Dot would become one of Sasieni’s many sub-brands, the best of which still wore the Sasieni name. Looking at this Rhodesian, I struggle to see what might have warranted the La Fuma but, alas, I am not a top-tier Italian artisan.
Now that “La Fuma” is out of the way, we can tackle “Melolontha.” In some ways, it’s more complicated, while in others, it’s much less so. It is a term that, like much of Ser Jacopo’s nomenclature, traces back to the Renaissance, but its meaning in the context of Ser Jacopo pipes is quite simple: it designates the type of ornamentation a pipe wears. In this instance, it’s the ridged, sterling silver faux spigot mount fitted to the pipe, which I suppose is indeed beautiful enough to be granted such a weighty appellation.

The condition is good. Some wear (slight darkening, scratches, and light charring) to the inner rim. This pipe is chambered to allow for the use of 9mm filters if desired.

Details:

Length: 5.6″ / 142.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.37″ / 34.79mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 42g