Il Duca: Sandblasted Natural Cherrywood with Boxwood (B) Tobacco Pipe

Max Rimensi, the skilled carver behind Il Duca pipes, enjoys a reputation for being able to easily shift between the various schools of design, imbuing classic shapes with a re-imagined, more contemporaneous aesthetic, be it through stem material, design, or accent. Additionally, the Italian artisan prides himself in producing precisely engineered, highly functional smoking instruments built for durability and enjoyment.

A signature rendition for Rimensi, this style of Cherrywood is one we've received a fair few times, and each time we see one I am astounded both by the consistency of his work and his ability to render the ebb and flow of this shape in such a consistent manner. The stem here is fairly lengthy, with a striking degree of verticality to it that is counterbalanced by its demure curvature. Said vertical orientation is enabled by the upturned shank, ebbing out from a relatively wide transition and flaring as it reaches toward a trim ring of boxwood at the end just before the stem. The shank meets the bowl near the bottom, though not directly at the base, and the bowl itself leans forward on its flat heel and sits on it quite nicely: the curving reminding me of a tree sapling blowing in the wind, while the shank and stem are its branches.

This bowl tapers toward the rim, diminishing only slightly as it rises and bringing the viewer's attention to the transition, giving one full view of Rimensi's shaping ability, as well as the crisp, virgin-finished sandblast that dresses the briar. This blast reveals some rippling, flowing growth rings that cascade through the walls of the bowl, their undulations striated by visible, raised flame grain as they flow toward the heel. The pale, unstained briar is nicely complemented by the similarly pale boxwood accent at the shank end, the aesthetic here a striking, organic one.