Ser Jacopo La Fuma XL Smooth Cutty Sitter 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.

Ser Jacopo introduced the “La Fuma” in the 1990s, if my research is correct, using the designation for pipes that were expertly handmade but whose grain did not quite meet the exacting standards of a regular Ser Jacopo pipes. They’re a little like some of the higher-end Sasieni sub-brands in that regard; “seconds,” one might say, but of a quality far exceeding a typical seconds brand. This is something very much reflected in their pricing, with each one typically fetching at least a few hundred dollars new. This one takes the form of a quite unique cutty rendition, one whose long, slender, canted figure is remarkably faithful to the old tavern clays from which the briar cutty was born, save for its flattened, sitter base.

The condition is good. Minor rim darkening, slight finish fading, and a nick at the front of the rim (pictured).

Details:

Length: 7.2″ / 182.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.86 / 21.84mm

Bowl Depth: 2.10″ / 53.34mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g