Ser Jacopo L1 Smooth Calabash 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.

As with any pipe make that’s been around for long enough, fans of Ser Jacopo pipes often have preferences for which “era” of manufacture they belong to. Some prefer Ser Jacopo’s more recent explorations of novel finishes, such as the volcanic Maior, and shapes, such as those of the limited Domina series. Some prefer pipes conceived under Giancarlo Guidi’s tenure, such as the Divina Proportione, before he passed away in 2012. And others prefer Ser Jacopo pipes made during its early decades after being founded in 1981. Pipes belonging to the latter tend to be a little more understated than recent ones, with a greater emphasis on spectacular briar and immaculate shaping. This calabash certainly fits that description and, as seen by the coral dot inlay on its stem, will have been made around the 1980s, or early 1990s at the latest. For reference, the first Ser Jacopo stem logo was an inlaid piece of sea coral in a thin silver ring, but the silver part was removed a few years later due to trademark disagreements with a contemporaneous Italian make. Then, not long after, the sea coral used for the inlay became a protected species, which led to the use of a red plexiglass dot. In 1997, the modern silver “J” logo was adopted.

The condition is great. Minor inner rim darkening and some very small bowl scratches.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.92 / 23.36mm

Bowl Depth: 1.80″ / 45.72mm

Weight: 2.4oz / 70g