Don Carlos Partially Rusticated Rhodesian Briar Pipe, Italian Estates [SOLD OUT]

Description

Don Carlos belongs to a historic lineage within Italian pipe making. The workshop was founded by Bruto Sordini (along with his wife Rosaria), who had previously made pipes for Mastro de Paja, where he also met Giancarlo Guidi. In 1981, Sordini and Guidi left Mastro de Paja to found their own workshop, Ser Jacopo. After years of making pipes at Ser Jacopo, Sordini once again departed to found a new venture, as he had ideas for shapes and styles that were quite different to Ser Jacopo’s established design philosophy. Sordini therefore created Don Carlos as a means of expressing this vision, resulting in pipes that are both quintessentially Italian, and bearing aesthetic that is wholly their own.

While it does not stray too far from pipe making conventions, this particular Don Carlos is still rather unique. The shape is reminiscent of a tall, quarter bent Rhodesian, yet instead of the bead lines that one would expect to separate the top and bottom halves of the bowl, it is rusticated at the top, while the bottom and the remainder of the pipe is smooth. The result is quite striking, and certainly well executed. The rustication itself is uniform and nicely craggy – a hallmark of good Italian pipes – and the smooth portion of the pipe displays marvelous grain, with its underside bursting with bird’s-eyes. Dressed in a natural blonde stain, this pipe certainly lives up to the lofty reputation of the Italian pipe workshop.

 

Details:

Length: 6″

Bowl Width: 23.0mm

Bowl Depth: 2″

Weight: 2.1oz / 62g