Kennedy Barnes - Mr. James Upshall

[NeverBend]

Pete,

This pipe looks like it may have been too aggressively reamed. What do you think? Thanks.

L'Anatra O Canadian Pre Smoked | eBay

Hi Tab,

I wrote a lot about this pipe because I know Massimo Palazzi who owns L'Anatra (he worked for Ser Jacopo for many years) and I've been tracking his pipes on eBay for a long time. They are made by hand, bowl and stem.




The pipe has been reamed to the wood but without compromising the integrity of the bowl or making it out of round (symmetrical). The inside rim edge is slightly rounded on part of the bowl but it's slight. I think it was reamed by machine with some skill and despite the fact that there is bare wood exposed it appears to be superficial and not a detriment.

Mike, the seller, BriarBlues, has an excellent reputation and he seems to know how to restore pipes well.

Massimo was a jeweler by trade and he designed and made some beautiful rings that my wife loved (and lost ). Massimo used (may still) the same saw mill for his briar as Jacopo. Massimo is the best stem maker known to me, fashioning stems, completely by hand, out of blanks cut from solid acrylic table tops. Most of the L'Anatra stems that I've seen have been clunky, with poorly formed buttons that were clearly made by someone other than Massimo. Similarly, I've been disappointed by the shaping and finishing of most of their pipes as well because I want them to be special pipes.



This L'Anatra is a single "O" and that is (I believe) their lowest grade smooth pipe. The silver duck embedded in the stem is cute but gimmicky and perhaps a PITA when doing maintenance. You are right to have been concerned about the reaming. I know, sounds bad but please keep reading.

I hope that I've allayed your concerns about the reaming. This stem appears to have been made by Massimo himself, thin at the bite, elegant and beautifully formed and rounded button, slightly concave at the smoke hole. The grading of the pipe (and most pipes) is based on superficial things, flaws, sand spots, etc. Jacopo downgraded pipes that needed darker finishes and I suspect that this is true with this pipe but as a smoking instrument the grade can be meaningless.

The shaping of the bowl is elegant and well formed. The most difficult shape to make, (by hand), is a smooth billiard and other than the Curvet Billiard (that Barling was so expert at) the canadian is nearly as difficult a shape to make (it's essentially a billiard with a long shank). The shank is long and tapers elegantly with excellent proportions to the stem, nicely symmetrical. I've found most L'Anatra to be heavier, blocky and less refined, reasons for which are too long an explanation but those impressions are NOT relevant to this pipe.


I'm no expert on dating L'Anatra but I suspect that this is an early one that still has a lot of Jacopo influence and a Massimo made stem. It's easily the best L'Anatra that I've seen on eBay. The pipe is only 53 grams despite being a good size (from dimensions ~group 6 Dunhill size) and with a Massimo stem that should be oh so comfortable in the mouth.

$100 is a little steep for most single "O" L'Anatra but, despite my prejudice towards the billiard family of bowls, not for this beauty. The condition is, other than the slight inside rim rounding, excellent. If you don't like this pipe, there's a guy named Pete who'll find something to trade you for it . I think it will be a great smoker and again, you've turned up a gold nugget on eBay. This is the special L'Anatra that I've been hoping to see.


Hope that this helps, (smoking the John Cotton as I write and thank you),

Pete