Mastro De Paja 1B Gigante, Sandblasted Bent Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked [SOLD]

Description

Like Castello, Mastro de Paja holds a special place in the world of Italian high-grade pipe workshops. Founded in 1972 by Giancarlo Guidi, the MdP team was soon joined by Giannino Spadoni and Bruto Sordini with the Guidi and Spadoni at the helm of the company until 1981. Guidi then left with Sordini to found Ser Jacopo, and Sordini would later leave Ser Jacopo to found Don Carlos. Spadoni, on the other hand, stayed at MdP until he also left, after which he founded Fiamma di Re. Today, Mastro de Paja is guided by Alberto Montini, with the workshop being known for both the manufacture of some of Italy’s most admired pipes, and for having launched the careers of some of its most respected artisans.

Mastro de Paja has changed hands a few times over the years. As ownership has changed, so has the style of its pipes. This pipe fascinates me. It is completely unsmoked, leading me to think it is more likely a newer make. But the style is very much like the older pipes – simple, modest even, but superbly executed. The ring grain sandblast, for example, is just remarkable. It has that distinctly Italian aesthetic of looking natural, woodsy – as if you’d just cracked the bark off a tree and looked behind it. The shaping is also excellent; somewhat like an opera, but with a standard, rather than ovaline, chamber. While this is a Gigante model, it isn’t a magnum-sized pipe by any means. It is merely larger than MdP pipes traditionally were – more reason to suspect it being from the earlier periods in the make’s existence.

As stated, the pipe is completely unsmoked, having come to us on consignment from a very careful collector.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.44″ / 36.57mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g