Il Duca: Partially Sandblasted Bent Bulldog (B) Tobacco Pipe

With a passion for pipes stretching back to 1990, Massimiliano Rimensi, the carver behind Il Duca, has dedicated much of his time to engrossing himself in the designs of makers from all around the world. More than a worthy pastime, this focus on composition allows the Italian artisan to craft pipes with utterly unique profiles, and to create renditions of classic shapes, such as this bent Bulldog, that defy convention with their flowing lines and organic inclination. The stem is gingerly bent, a wide and easy taper of black vulcanite that meets a thick, slightly ovoid shank which informs the bowl's squatness. This duo has been afforded a diamond outline as per the shape's conventions, lending this piece a bit of structure, though mostly through the flanks. Despite the shank being marked by a firm ridge, the transition rejects the sharpness and hard angles of the top ridge in favor of a long and gentle ebbing forward of the briar on a slight slope, with said top ridge dissipating almost as soon as it meets the transition, magnifying this pipe's aforementioned softness as the briar to the left and right smoothly flow toward the bowl.

On the underside the heel arcs languidly upward, giving the illusion of lift and meeting the tapered rim at a pair of beadlines, creating an implied line from the empty space to the rim's apex as its own ridge lends it a more solid outline. The section between the beadlines is a trim band of honey-hued smooth briar that, in concert with the beadlines above and below it, has the effect of creating a continuous curve, entirely bereft of sharp angles. This soft organicism informs the domed rim as well, its slopes eminently curved to their zenith, overlooking a shallow chamber. With a supple fluidity and gradual, smooth, unbroken expansion, the silhouette of this pipe speaks to a great talent in carving and an artistic eye for composition, its components balanced effortlessly throughout the shape's subtle S-curve.