Ser Jacopo (Pre-1994) R2 Large Partially Rusticated Billiard (Estate)

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.

While Ser Jacopo today is known for its rather grandiose designs, the workshop’s humble beginnings as an offshoot from Mastro de Paja carried with it the latter’s emphasis on more modest creations. Mastro de Paja’s pipes were—and still are—high-grade, handmade works—but the pipes made there by Guidi, Sordini, et al., tended toward simpler shapes and finishes, crafted in a meticulous fashion as a means of competing with the emerging post-war artisan scene. In other words, they were pipes much like this one: a group 6 billiard rendition, dressed in a sharp, yet remarkably clean and consistent, Italian pebble-dash rustication. Judging by its peach-toned stem inlay, this will have been a fairly early Ser Jacopo pipe, made back when the workshop used Mediterranean sea coral instead of the contemporary silver “J.” That practice ended due to EU legislation regarding coral harvesting across Europe, which came into effect around 1994.

The condition is very good. Minor inner rim darkening and possibly some slight fading of the pipe’s coral inlay (though the sea coral used by Ser Jacopo in its infancy comes in a spectrum of colors, which was a part of the reason it was chosen by Giancarlo Guidi, so it may have always been like that).

Details:

Length: 6.3″ / 160.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.78″ / 45.21mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g