Ser Jacopo L1 Smooth Army Mount Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Ser Jacopo is one of the most famous contemporary examples of high-grade, workshop-made Italian pipes. It also belongs to a very special tradition in Italian pipe-making, having been established by Giancarlo Guidi and Bruno Sordini after the two had left another great Italian workshop, Mastro de Paja. Together, Guidi and Sordini created a brand of pipes that reflected their Renaissance sensibilities – even the figurehead of Ser Jacopo happens to be taken from a painting of a nobleman from centuries past – one that would soon become esteemed for creating unique and beautiful tobacco pipes that smoked just as well as they looked.

While Ser Jacopo pipes today carry a silver “J” on their stem, the pipes were originally identified by a coral and silver inlay, which was retired after trademark disagreements and problems in sourcing the sea coral used for them. As this Ser Jacopo has said inlay, it will have been made in the early 1980s. The style is very much of that time. Instead of the more extravagant, Renaissance motifs of contemporary Ser Jacopo pipes, this one is a highly classical, large bent billiard, reminiscent of Peterson’s 69 shape, or perhaps even Dunhill’s LC. The pipe does feature something more common to current Ser Jacopos, however: sterling silver, in the form of an army mount.

The condition is good. Some wear to the rim, and the stem does show a couple of tooth marks and chatter from a slightly overzealous prior user.

 

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.87 / 22.09mm

Bowl Depth: 2.05″ / 52.07mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 68g