Castello: Collection Spiral Bent Billiard (K) 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. This bent Billiard is a unique pipe, showcasing a style we've seen before from the workshop, though very seldomly, its bowl being carved to include a pattern of raised spirals. Said bowl is plump and pert and sits on a rounded heel, framed by a septet of firm ridges that curve slightly as they rise to the rim, outlining the walls' easy taper to the rim. A wide transition out back pairs the bowl to a sleek, subtly tapering shank, its ovoid stretch of material reaching out to meet a similarly tapering stem of demurely downturned black acrylic. Dressed in the warm, rich stain of the Collection finish, most of this stummel displays handsome grain, with the left flank of the bowl offering dense flame grain, while a segment of the fore wall is rusticated: offering ample contrast.