Il Duca: Sandblasted Bent Egg with Boxwood (B) Tobacco Pipe

A former electrician, Max Rimensi purchased his first pipe back in 1990 and immediately fell in love with the craft. His inquisitive mind drove him to examine the pipe, a cheap Dublin, and felt he could fashion a more proficient, better engineered smoking instrument. It's safe to say the Italian artisan has succeeded, producing some of the most desirable and creative pipes in the modern era. This bent Egg is a prime example and highlights Rimensi's stylistic range, presenting a design that could easily be mistaken for a Danish piece.

The bowl rises tall and proud from out of the deep, sweeping transition, the negative space created by the transition making the bowl more visually prominent in profile. The shank subtly flares out behind and is met by a boxwood accent that continues the rhythm established by the shank's shaping. It's topped by a slender, tapered stem, lengthening the profile. The supple, tall and forward-leaning bowl is voluptuous in hand and houses a deep chamber, while the grain is simply remarkable, peeking through an ochre-stained sandblast.