Italian Estates: Castello Collection Zulu (KKKK) (2008) Tobacco Pipe

Italian workshop Castello has a rich history that stretches back to 1947 with its founding by Carlo Scotti, being established as one of the first Italian brands to offer high-quality handmade pipes to the general public. In the 1960s, following the addition of Luigi Radice and Peppino Ascorti to their team of carvers, Castello's pipes began to take on a form that was quite different from the Anglo-French classics that they and others had been producing. The Italian neoclassical style which they had begun to develop led not only to a shaping renaissance within Italy, but the production of a number of now iconic profiles. A decidedly gestural pipe, this Zulu from the Italian workshop features a gently bent stem and softly curving shank which is here presented with a wealth of extra thickness. Said shank tapers into the stem smoothly and balances the visual weight of this pipe quite well, holding aloft the bowl sturdily and reinforcing its forward cant. The bowl itself flares out gently toward a softly domed rim and is quite comfortable in hand, the soft expansion calling to mind the horn shape in profile, especially given the thickness of the shank. Dressed in the warm, honeyed stain of the Collection finish, the stummel here showcases a wealth of handsome grain throughout.