Spitfire by Lorenzo Castelmonte Smooth Straight Billiard Estate Pipe, 9mm Filter

Spitfire in script, BY LORENZO under it, and CASTELMONTE on the shank: this is a Spitfire by Lorenzo Castelmonte, a smooth straight billiard with an oval shank and a vulcanite saddle stem that ends in a fishtail mouthpiece, made for a 9 mm filter.

It is pre-smoked and in very good condition, with some darkness at the rim and a bite mark on the mouthpiece.

The bowl is upright with straight sides, 50 mm high and 42 mm wide, and the chamber is 40 mm deep and 20 mm across. The oval shank is wider than it is high, and the stem is oval as well.

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

Around 1950 Lorenzo Tagliabue ran the business. He studied the pipes of Castello and Brebbia, drew new models of his own and moved the firm upmarket. In 1969 the brand took the name Lorenzo Pipes, because another Tagliabue firm already existed. Lorenzo Tagliabue retired in 1983, and after a short licence to Comoy's of London, Riccardo and Gabriella Aliverti bought all the rights from the family in 1988 and started production again.

Spitfire was a second line of Lorenzo. Pipedia notes that Spitfire pipes used the same shapes as the Lorenzo pipes, although no official Lorenzo shape chart was ever published.

THE MARKS

- Spitfire in script, on the shank
- BY LORENZO, under it
- CASTELMONTE, on the shank

The Spitfire line carries no dates in the sources, and no year is stamped, so no date is given for this pipe. What the word Castelmonte names is not given in the sources.

The finish is smooth and glossy, and grain lines show on the bowl.

THE MEASUREMENTS

- Length: 148 mm
- Bowl height: 50 mm
- Bowl width: 42 mm (1.7 in)
- Chamber diameter: 20 mm (0.8 in)
- Chamber depth: 40 mm (1.6 in)
- Weight: 2.0 oz

Ships from the Faridunhill archive. Worldwide shipping and professional sanitation on every estate pipe. SKU: 254