Ser Jacopo Picta Picasso 26 L1 Smooth Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Ser Jacopo is likely the most famous contemporary example 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.

Pipe-makers look in all sorts of places for inspiration. Some look to nature and natural forms, others look to architectural movements, and some even look to automotive construction for ideas as to how to craft the perfect pipe. In the case of Ser Jacopo’s Picta series, the influence comes from somewhere a little left-field: painting. As with Ser Jacopo’s typical naming conventions, picta is not Italian, but Latin, translating roughly to “painted,” with the Picta Picasso series paying homage to arguably the figurehead of cubism in fine art, Pablo Picasso. This pipe, number 26 in the series, is based on one of Picasso’s Musketeer with Pipe studies leans into its avant-garde source work, bringing together a paneled, pot-like bowl with a shank extension that seems to be imitating a clay pipe – such as those smoked back during the days of the musketeers.

The condition is great. Some minor darkening at the rear of the rim, but nothing major. The pipe does not look to have been smoked much at all. It also comes with its original box, sleeve, and booklets.

 

Details:

Length: 8″ / 203.2mm

Bowl Width: 0.96 / 24.38mm

Bowl Depth: 1.72″ / 43.68mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 60g