Il Duca: Sandblasted Acorn with Bamboo (B) Tobacco Pipe

Max Rimensi, the carver behind Il Duca pipes, is a true student of pipe making, and as such, he takes inspiration from a wide range of design schools. Design cues from Danish, Italian, and Anglo-French pipe makers can be found in Rimensi's work, but that's not to say Rimseni is unoriginal. Rimsensi takes his various influences and elevates them through his personal creative vision, resulting in truly original work that dazzles with its sophistication and elegance. This Acorn is a fine example of Rimensi's style, featuring the elegant shaping, precise line work, and expert finishing techniques that have come to define the Italian carver's output.

Lightweight and highly organic, this piece features a supple bowl that flares from its narrow heel to its broad, rounded rim. The bowl's hearty build offers plenty of substance in hand, its gentle contours naturally conforming to wrapped fingers. The bowl is poised at the fore of a languid sprawl of shank and stem. The slender shank is extended by three knuckles of dark bamboo that add a dose of organicism to the composition while complementing the rest of the composition's fairly understated color palette. A black and orange sandblast dresses the stummel and unveils rippling waves of grain across the flanks of the bowl, adding a wealth of visual and tactile detail.