Il Duca: Sandblasted Bent Stack with Silver (B) Tobacco Pipe

Max Rimensi's extremely distinctive shaping style is the result of a long-held love for pipes and pipe smoking, as well as a furious study of the various schools of design developed by artisans from around the world. The result is something of a culmination of all of Rimensi's inspirations rolled into one and tempered by his own outlook on style and design, leading to shapes that, while perhaps similar to some seen elsewhere, are entirely unique to Max. This bent Stack, for instance, reminds me immediately of the Danish school, with soft, flowing lines, and a sleekness pervading nearly every element of its build. But, then again, it also strikes me as a thoroughly Italian neoclassical piece, with proportions that favor the bowl quite heavily, and the vast majority of the visual weight placed there.

This is a style I would call "Danish neoclassical," then, and its accomplishment by Rimensi is no mean feat, as the two schools are quite different from one another, though his deeply held respect for both of these style allows him to synthesize them in a way that seems effortless. The stem here is a languid arc of black vulcanite that is exceptionally well-suited to jaw-hanging, its base meeting a domed fitment of silver into which it nestles and the precious metal reinforcing the standard mortise-tenon arrangement. From here the shank takes on a gradual flare to the transition, slowly building in mass until, at last, the bowl bursts forth from the briar, towering over the shank at more than two and a half inches tall and holding a chamber that's almost equally deep. The acrobatic nature of the upturned shank and stem balance the presence of the bowl, however, and keep it from dominating the entire profile, allowing all of Rimensi's shaping to be appreciated. This is an extremely comfortable piece in the hand, as the soft rounding of the bowl's walls allows for the fingers to wrap around it with ease, and its striking height ensures that several of them are afforded the opportunity, with the thumb easily able to rest on the bowl and shank. A deep, inky sandblast dresses this pipe, revealing a wealth of blasted birdseye on the left flank, while the right is home to a sunburst growth ring array that radiates forth from the middle, the stummel's dark hues contrasted readily by the silver fitment at the shank end.