Italian Estates: Ascorti Nove Carved Bent Apple (01) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

In the late 1960s, two Castello pipe makers, Guiseppe Ascorti and Luigi Radice, left to found their own workshop, Caminetto. Their skilled craftsmanship grew Caminetto into one of the most popular marques of the 1970s and beyond. Quite the stout offering from Ascorti, this bent Apple is reminiscent of the Tomato in its squatness, with an impressively low-slung bowl and a broad waist that tapers gently to the rim. A thick shank ebbs out of a wide transition, leaving plenty of room to drape a digit, and lifts to meet a demurely downturned saddle stem of smoky grey acrylic. Dressed in a craggy, carved finish, the stummel features crisp, craggy texture across most of the bowl, with the rim, heel, and shank left smooth for ample contrast.