Don Carlos Two Note Smooth Rhodesian Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

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.

There is something that really grabs me about this pipe from the Sordinis’ Don Carlos make. It’s certainly beautiful, with plenty of straight grain shining through its light, natural stain. But I think what truly sets it apart is the shaping. It’s a Rhodesian, yes, but its gentle, downward sloping curvature, without the design’s typical sudden rise has it leaning ever so slightly into other staples of Italian pipe making. It’s subtle, but its form nonetheless evokes, for example the hawkbill or the calumet, while still remaining in a recognizably Rhodesian mold. Perhaps I’m overthinking it. A lovely pipe, in any case.

The condition is very good. Some inner rim darkening.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.89 / 22.60mm

Bowl Depth: 1.67″ / 42.41mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 60g