Piero Vitale Sandblasted Volcano w/ Cocobolo (Two Star) Handmade Briar Pipe, New

Description

As a child, Piero Vitale spent many an afternoon in the workshop of his grandfather, who was a carpenter and luthier. This proclivity for working with his hands translated into a number of artistic pursuits as he grew up, including painting and wood carving. Then Vitale was introduced to the world of handmade pipes by a friend and was immediately fascinated. The work of masters such as Tom Eltang and Kent Rasmussen showed that pipes could be true works of art while also being precisely engineered smoking instruments. For over a decade, Vitale has crafted his own hand made pipes, developing a distinct style that expertly balances form and function. This has led to partnerships with several Italian pipe companies, for which Vitale has provided designs, but his greatest achievements continue to be those pipes that he makes by hand alone in his workshop, in a small village in Lombardy.

I’ve been following Piero Vitale’s work for many years, so I was very excited when we got to meet him in person at the Las Vegas pipe show in early October. I was even more excited when we arranged to stock some of his pipes at MBSD. As with the other Vitale pipes we selected, this one seemed like a perfect addition and introduction to his style. It is a volcano shape, in the same vein as the volcanoes created by notable North American artisans, such as Todd Johnson and Michael Parks. But, because it’s a Vitale, it is nonetheless distinctive, combining Piero’s signature compactness in length, vastness in height, and lightness in weight. The pipe is dressed in a deep, ring grain sandblast and contrast stain, topped at its shank end with a ring of cocobolo wood, and completed with a stem of black German ebonite.

 

Details:

Length: 5.4″ / 137.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.70 / 17.78mm

Bowl Depth: 1.92″ / 48.76mm

Weight: 1.4oz / 40g