Claudio Cavicchi: Brown Sandblasted Bent Billiard Tobacco Pipe

This bent Billiard from Italian artisan Claudio Cavicchi features a look immediately reminiscent of the Danish Fancy Freehand school of design. When I say this, I don't mean that there are slight elements peeking out here and there, but that this rendition would be perfectly at home amongst pipes from Winslow or Bjarne, though this certainly also features some more structured, Neoclassical elements to its form. The stem features a demure bend and dramatic expansion ring, meeting a flared, rearward-slanting shank face that tapers to the transition on top, while the bottom features a pronounced spur before its more rapid taper. The heel here is quite charmingly rounded, rising at the fore in a way that implies a subtle forward momentum before reaching a smooth, slightly inflated rim. One of Cavicchi's warm auburn stains and fantastic sandblasts dresses this pipe, revealing rippling growth rings though the flanks and rising to the rim, while the rim itself is striated with cross grain.