You might be surprised to find out that Posella pipes have been around for over 30 years, because most people have never heard of this line of handmade pipes.
Vitaliano Posella's family is steeped in the tradition of briar; his father operated a small briar mill in Calabria, and Vitaliano started out his pipe making career by partnering with his brother-in-law. You may have heard of his brother-in-law; his name is Tonino Jacono. Tonino and Vitaliano worked together for a number of years until Tonino moved to a different town and the brothers-in-law decided to pursue their own respective paths. Tonino, of course, found fame in the USA thanks to McCranie's importing his pipes, but Posella never reached out for distributorship, relying instead on his local market. Then, after a number of years his pipes began to reach a larger audience. The Piperack is pleased and honoured to now be a dealer for these fine pipes, because I think they offer an incredible value for the money and are both distinctive and attractive.
You will immediately see a resemblance to Tonino's work; this is to be expected. However, these are by no means copies of Jaconos! Vitaliano is an incredibly talented craftsman in his own right, creating everything from basic rusticated classic shapes starting at $120 all the way up to fantastic fiamatta straightgrain freehands that would just blow your mind! His rustication is unlike anything else I've seen before, and while some of his shapes remind one of Jaconos, there's also a passing resemblance to Tombari's work on Le Nuvole as well as a nod in the direction of Charatan. But when you look at these pipes, you don't see all these disparate influences; you see something fresh and new and interesting, and that's the point: The influences are a hint, and the real prize lies in the culmination of it all.
Posella's grading system is actually pretty easy; All the Rustics are stamped with an R (R for Rustic, RN for Rustic Natural, SR for semi-rusticated); entry-level smooths are L2's or L3's; near-straightgrains are marked with either three or four stars, while the fiamattas are marked F1, F2, or F3. In addition to the grade stamping, there are other stamps you may see; Fancy, artistically shaped freehands are marked "FANCY" while extra-large pieces are marked "VIP".
This particular unsmoked Posella is a Fancy 1, which is the first tier of the creative, artistic shaped freehands. The shape is a beautiful 1/2 bent Volcano with a boxwood shank extension and short saddle stem. The grain is gorgeous, so we took closeups.
To see closeup photos of the grain, please click this link.
Markings read: POSELLA, FANCY 1, FATTA A MANO. The stem has the intertwined double P logo in white. Measurements: 5 5/8" long, bowl is 1 5/8" wide just over 2 1/8" tall. The pipe weighs 53 grams. About a Dunhill group 5 in capacity.
Condition:
10 out of 10. Unsmoked and perfect; ready to be packed and lit. Complete with Posella sleeve.
