Smooth Bent Billiard (CCCC) Tobacco Pipe

Claudio Cavicchi lives and works in Bologna, a city known as the "cross roads of Italy". In both an aesthetic and literal sense, the man and his art stands between the Northern Italian schools as well as the Pesaro firms. Even with stain considerations aside, I don't think that Italian briar cognoscenti would glance at this pipe and mistake it for Ser Jacopo or a L'Anatra. The lack of pronounced shank taper, as well as the arc that is formed by the union of the same and bit, certainly draws this observer a bit closer to the latter. Continuing in the Pesaro vein, I'm thinking this grain would draw a Fiammata Grade from "the duck", and be approaching a "Della Gemma" grade from Giancarlo (with the proviso that this pipe would be considered a bit diminutive to be a Smeraldo or Garneto). While a small touch, the subtle, upward cant to the fore of the rim, adds a rather amazing amount of sophistication to the totality of the presentation.

--Bear Graves