Italian Estates: Ascorti Special Edition Christmas 1998 with Silver (03/98) (Unsmoked) Tobacco Pipe

In 1968, Guiseppe Ascorti and Luigi Radice ended their nearly decade-long tenure at the Castello workshop and formed their own, which they dubbed Caminetto. Shortly after, they partnered with Gianni Davoli, a tobacco shop owner who possessed excellent marketing skills. The trio's venture would prove successful over the next decade, with Caminetto pipes gaining renown throughout Italy and taking the U.S. market by storm. However, the intense demand for factory-level output and the exclusion of Guiseppe's son, Roberto — a budding pipemaker himself — from joining the workshop led Guiseppe to eventually leave Caminetto. Fortunately, this wasn't the end of Guiseppe's pipemaking days. In 1980, he and Roberto launched the Ascorti brand, and together they established a family legacy that has spanned three generations.

A special edition piece from the marque, this bent Dublin was released as part of their 1998 Christmas lineup. Interestingly, the flanks of this bowl forgo the outward flare found in Anglo-French interpretations of the same shape. Instead, they remain narrow and reserved, consequently stretching the rim of the bowl into an oval. While its flanks are trim, the fore and aft sides of the bowl are curvaceous, and it's these curves that establish the thick transition. Flowing from the transition is a short but shapely shank accented by a silver band. Contained within the band is a pair of finely dotted lines bookending many thin, diagonal strokes. Paired to the smooth, glossy, walnut-stained stummel is an inky, acrylic stem whose swift curves promote a comfortable jaw hanging posture.