Mastro Geppetto: Rusticato Paneled Rhodesian Churchwarden with Silver Tobacco Pipe

Giancarlo Guidi founded Ser Jacopo in 1982, building a reputation on crafting high-quality briars that are renowned for their robust proportions and playful shaping cues. The Italian atelier's style has since defined the Pesaro style of pipe making, each of their pipes imbued with a sense of character and reflecting the whimsical creativity that went into crafting them. Mastro Geppetto is Ser Jacopo's sub-brand of more accessibly priced pipes that still maintain a high-quality of workmanship. Crafted in the Ser Jacopo workshop, these pieces embody the playful Pesaro style of their pricier counterparts, with this paneled Rhodesian Churchwarden being an excellent example. Simultaneously fluid and firm, the shank and stem of this pipe showcase the iconically lengthy build which defines the Churchwarden designation, all in a gently sinuous outline. The shank here is actually quite short, lifting slightly out of a wide transition to meet the stem at a trim band of silver which marks the junction. The stem, however is impressively long, responsible for much of this pipe's length and balancing the visual weight of the bowl excellently. Said bowl flares out of a curving heel to a high-set ridge that marks the waist, its lower walls surrounded by a number of muscular panels. Dressed in a craggy rustication and dark stain, the stummel here offers plenty of engaging texture for the fingers to appreciate.