Savinelli: Leonardo da Vinci Clavi Viola Black (6mm) Tobacco Pipe

The archetype "renaissance man", Leonardo da Vinci, was one of the most prolific draftsmen who ever lived. I say draftsman because his approach to science was largely based on detailed observations and records of data observed, rarely giving physical form to his scientific concepts. Only after many centuries later did architects and engineers attempt to build many of Leonardo's technical drawings. Here, Savinelli honors the Italian polymath with a pipe totally dedicated to his Clavi-viola, an innovative musing somewhere between the harpsichord and the viola, which wouldn't be constructed until 2005, by the writer and engineer Edoardo Zanon. The instrument being a hybrid itself, Savinelli saw it fit to produce a pipe that is an amalgamation of a Dublin and a Bulldog, with the tapered bowl of the former and a diamond shank of the latter. It is finished in a dark, smooth dress stain, the whole composition completed with a silver relief inspired by Leonardo's original sketch.

-Seth Ellison-