Italian Estates: Radice Smooth Tomato (GGG) (2020) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

It's not too often that Radice crafts the Tomato shape, though when the workshop does carve it, it is almost always a lovely rendition of the shape, and this particular example is no exception. A squat, broad bowl dominates most of the composition, holding the majority of the visual weight, and it is paired to a gradually tapering, ovoid shank-and-stem combination, its sleek, svelte construction balancing out just a bit of the heartiness of the bowl. The underside is flat, allowing the pipe to sit quite easily, and the transition to the bowl is wide, speaking to the arcing taper from the bowl's mid-set waistline to the rim. A recipient of one of Radice's rare smooth finishes, this Tomato has been dressed in a deep, warm, chestnut-hued stain that reveals some lovely grain all around, with broad expanses of dense birdseye on either flank of the strikingly large bowl: the bowl's more than two inches of height and impressive breadth offering plenty of heartiness in hand.