Lorenzo Prato 8583 Smooth Straight Billiard, Vulcanite Saddle Stem, 9mm Filter

Three marks sit on the shank of this large smooth straight billiard: the Lorenzo name in the brand's lower-case logo lettering, the word PRATO and the number 8583. It has a shiny metal band, a vulcanite saddle stem with a fishtail mouthpiece, and it is made for a 9 mm filter.

Here an upright bowl rises from a straight shank, the billiard plan. The finish is smooth and glossy, and grain lines show across the bowl. The metal band sits at the end of the shank, where the stem goes in, and the saddle stem carries its wide section at the shank before the thinner bit.

THE MARKS

- Lorenzo, in the brand's lower-case logo lettering, on the shank
- PRATO, on the shank
- 8583, on the shank

THE MAKER
Lorenzo grew out of Fratelli Lana, founded in Gallarate in 1900. A tie with the Tagliabue merchants of Milan began in 1922, and in 1946 Tagliabue took the business over as Manufattura di Pipe Tagliabue. From about 1950 Lorenzo Tagliabue ran it: he studied Castello and Brebbia, brought in models of his own and moved the house upmarket. Because another firm already carried the Tagliabue name, the brand became Lorenzo Pipes in 1969.

Lorenzo Tagliabue retired in 1983, and the brand was licensed for a short time to Comoy's of London. In 1988 Riccardo and Gabriella Aliverti bought all rights from the family, and production started again. The Aliverti name was not new to the firm: Romolo Aliverti had joined Fratelli Lana in 1920, Riccardo worked there from 1954 and became technical director in 1973, and Massimo was sales director from 1991.

DATING
The Lorenzo name on the shank belongs to the years after the 1969 renaming, a well documented point; pipes from before it rarely carry the name, and between 1983 and 1988 production was thin. No year is known for the Prato line, and the number 8583 does not date it either. The stamps place this pipe in 1969 or later.

Condition: pre-smoked and in good condition, with a dark burn spot on the inner rim, and dents and faint scratches around the briar.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Length: 154 mm
- Bowl height: 56 mm (2.2 in)
- Bowl width: 42 mm (1.7 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.8 in)
- Chamber depth: 48 mm (1.9 in)
- Weight: 2.2 oz

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

SKU: 333