Italian Estates: Castello 'Castello' Billiard (2021) Tobacco Pipe

A lean, Italian-style bent Billiard, this piece from Castello features a plump bowl posed at the fore of an oval shank and a trim, tapered mouthpiece. The shank-and-stem arrangement tapers from the transition to the bit, slenderizing the aft side of the composition and lending visual prominence to the bowl. The shank and stem possess a Hawkbill-like curvature that gives the overall form a gestural appearance in profile and nicely positions the mouthpiece for comfortable smoking. A light, chestnut-hued rendition of the workshop's eponymous finish dresses the stummel of this pipe, revealing dense striations of grain wrapping around the flanks of the bowl, interspersed with swirls of fine birdseye.