Italian Estates: Alberto Bonfiglioli Smooth Bent Brandy (TAPS 2004) Tobacco Pipe

This interesting piece comes to us by way of Alberto Bonfiglioli, the Italian carver having made it for the Triangle Area Pipe Smokers club in 2004. The shape here is quite unique, a portmanteau of the Brandy and Hawkbill shapes, with the tapering bowl and plump waistline of the former, but the aquiline curve of shank and stem of the latter. That being said, we'd expect more of a high-reaching stretch of shank and stem from a Hawkbill, the arc here being quite a bit more subtle though still noticeable, the junction marked by a broad band of silver engraved with the TAPS logo. At the bowl we see a firmly rounded heel which supports its low-set waistline, tapering walls, and undulating rim, its surfaces displaying birdseye on the left flank and flame grain on the right, all thanks to a warm mahogany stain.