Lorenzo Aprica Smooth Pot Tomato Pipe, Orange Finish, Oval Shank, Saddle Stem

Lorenzo Aprica is the name on the shank of this compact smooth pot tomato with an orange finish, an oval shank and a vulcanite saddle stem with a fishtail mouthpiece. It has no filter.

THE MARKS

- APRICA, on the shank
- Lorenzo, in lower-case logo lettering with a line under it, on the shank (a small mark after the name is not readable)

The bowl is a tomato: round, squat and wider than it is tall. The finish is smooth and polished. The saddle stem keeps its wide section at the oval shank, curves gently toward the bit and ends in a fishtail that widens and flattens at the tip.

THE MAKER

The house began as Fratelli Lana, founded in Gallarate in 1900, the third pipe maker of the Varese area after Rossi (1886) and Ceresa (1897). From 1922 it worked with the Tagliabue merchants of Milan, exports grew, and by 1939 it had 120 workers. Tagliabue took over in 1946, and the firm became Manufattura di Pipe Tagliabue.

From about 1950 Lorenzo Tagliabue managed the works; he studied Castello and Brebbia, made new models of his own and moved the house upmarket. Since another Tagliabue firm existed, the brand took the name Lorenzo Pipes in 1969. Lorenzo Tagliabue retired in 1983 and the brand went for a short time on licence to Comoy's of London; in 1988 Riccardo and Gabriella Aliverti bought all rights from the family and production started again.

DATING

The Lorenzo name on the shank belongs to the years after the 1969 renaming, and this point is well documented; pipes from before it rarely carry the name, and production was thin between 1983 and 1988. No year is recorded for the Aprica line, and no number or country line is seen in the photographs, so nothing narrows it further. The stamps place this pipe in 1969 or later.

Condition: very good; see the photographs.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Bowl height: 35 mm (1.4 in)
- Bowl width: 45 mm (1.8 in)
- Chamber depth: 30 mm (1.2 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.8 in)
- Weight: 1.6 oz

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 374