Viprati Naturale Extra Giant Rusticated Pot Estate Briar Pipe, Italian Estates

Description

Much like in Denmark or Japan, many of the great names in Italian artisan pipe-making got their start working for other greats in their famous workshops. This was the case for artisans such as Giancarlo Guidi, Luigi Radice, Sergio Ascorti, and Maurizio Tombari. Luigi Viprati, on the other hand, is one of the few self-taught Italian pipe-makers of the 20th century to have reached the same heights as such contemporaries. First picking up the craft in 1972, Viprati would ultimately become one of the defining names in Italian pipes, which he remains to this day.

There’s an interesting trend when it comes to over-sized pipes from Italian workshop. If you look at Castello’s Big Line, Ardor’s Giant, Ser Jacopo’s Maxima, or Radice’s Magnum pipes, they’re certainly large, but there’s a much greater emphasis on one particular aspect than is common in the makes of other nations: breadth. In part due to the kinds of shapes Italian artisans tend toward, one frequently finds that their extra large offerings are inordinately broad and bulky, while being closer to a standard length. This “Extra” size Viprati, for example, is only 6 inches in length (though some would say that’s plenty), yet it’s difficult to look at it and not see a genuine magnum of a pipe. As for the rest of the design, it’s dressed in Luigi Viprati’s own rendition of Italian high-grade rustication, with a very light, natural stain.

The condition is very good. Some rim darkening, minor handling marks. Nothing major.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.93 / 23.62mm

Bowl Depth: 1.88″ / 47.75mm

Weight: 4.1oz / 118g