Ascorti New Dear Churchwarden Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Ascorti belongs to a historic lineage in Italian artisan pipe-making. Guiseppe ‘Peppino’ Ascorti was first employed as a pipe-maker in the 1950s, in Carlo Scotti’s Castello workshop in Cantu. There he met Luigi Radice, and in the 1960s the two decided to leave Castello to create their own pipe-making workshop, under the name ‘Caminetto.’ At the end of the 1970s, Guiseppe Ascorti and Luigi Radice left Caminetto and once more decided to start new ventures. Luigi Radice founded the Radice pipe workshop, and Guiseppe’s son Roberto Ascorti, who had also worked in the Caminetto workshop since he was a child, decided to create a workshop under his own name. Roberto was joined not only by his father, but also many of the talented craftsmen who had formerly worked for Caminetto. In 1980, the Ascorti workshop was born.

The New Dear is Ascorti’s (following Caminetto’s) interpretation of the distinctly Italian “wax drip” finish. Here, the stummel is painstakingly hand-carved to mimic the look of wax spilling over the side of a burning candle. The Ascortis honed this finish when they worked at Caminetto and then continued to develop it in the pipes bearing their own name. The history of such finishes, however, stretches back far beyond the Italian workshop movement, to what pipe historian David Wright has called the “first phase” of briar pipes. These pipes, predominantly those of 19th century France, were often intricately hand-carved. I would say the New Dear is a modern continuation of that. This one is a very distinct and uncommon churchwarden, or demi-warden, variation on the finish, with a briar shank extension allowing for that extra length.

The condition is very good. Some minor inner rim darkening and a small scratch on the top of the stem.

 

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.74″ / 44.19mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g