Davide Iafisco: Sandblasted Cherrywood with Ivorite Tobacco Pipe

Davide Iafisco is an Italian pipe maker, however, his unique style is not exclusively defined by neoclassic Italian aesthetics. A student of master pipe makers such as Adam Davidson, Teddy Knudsen, Chris Asteriou, and Claudio Cavicchi, Iafisco's comprehensive pipe making education has led him to incorporate a wide variety of pipe making aesthetics into his work, resulting in his portfolio spanning from traditional Anglo-French creations to unorthodox Freehands. However, all of Iafisco's pipes are linked by crisp line work, supple shaping, and excellently engineered airways, ensuring each pipe is both beautiful and functional to the same degree of excellence.

This Cherrywood by Davide Iafisco strikes a jaunty pose on its flattened heel, which, in spite of this pipe's forward-urging profile, makes this pipe a resolute Sitter. The bowl flares dramatically from the flat heel, presenting a particularly pronounced arc at the fore. The walls rise to a broad rim that arcs 90-degrees from the fore to aft, giving this pipe a blossoming momentum. Out back, the shank emerges from the transition at an upward angle before the stem demurely bends downward, giving the shank-and-stem arrangement a hint of dynamism that contrasts well with the striking contours of the bowl.

Additionally, the dress also serves to accentuate this Cherrywood's momentum. The dark-hued sandblast on the stummel exposes undulating growth rings, but also showcases streaks of flame grain shooting up the walls. As the flame grain reaches the rim it explodes into spiky plateau, creating a palpable momentum that runs from the heel to the rim. Also, the sandblast rises up the shank until it meets the stem at a gleaming white band of ivorite. Additionally, the stem is fashioned from jet-black vulcanite, providing a distinguished appeal that parallels its demure curvature.