Viprati Smooth Dublin Sitter w/ Olivewood 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 something of the Dublin shape in this lovely sitter from Luigi Viprati, but it also reminds me of something else—something rather popular in modern Italian pipe design. That something is a pot—not a pot in the sense of the pipe shape, but in the sense of a cooking pot. Like other artisans, such as Le Nuvole’s Maurizio Tombari and Giancarlo Guidi of Ser Jacopo, Viprati’s pipes often show off shaping inspired by earthenware used in Italian cooking. With its cauldron-like bowl, this one would appear to be no different, especially given its sitting posture. The pipe also features a fittingly wide chamber and an olivewood ferrule.

The condition is very good. Some inner rim darkening.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.93 / 23.62mm

Bowl Depth: 1.56″ / 39.62mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g