Liscia Poker (3) Tobacco Pipe

Ser Jacopo's story began in 1982 when Giancarlo Guidi and Bruto Sordini left Mastro de Paja to start their own firm. In true Italian style, the company's pipes offer finely crafted variations on traditional British and French shapes. With their Mastro Geppetto pipes (named for the man who carved Pinocchio), Ser Jacopo provides the same curious approach, neoclassical shapes, and variant finishes of its other pipes at a more affordable price.

Little mystery to the finish on this piece — "liscia" means "smooth" in English. That lack of mystery is a good thing, too, because the bowl of this pipe is flooded with handsome flame grain that you'll want to admire over and over again, all of it stained a lovely, natural pale brown. The shape of the bowl is one to be admired, as well, canted forward heavily at the aft and less dramatically from the heel to the rim, which is scooped downward at the aft to provide an intriguing shape. The very brief shank points generously upward and meets seamlessly with a swirling acrylic stem of dark red, yellow, white, and a dash of deep blue, a generously playful touch to complete this piece.