G. Penzo: Smooth Devil Anse (A) Tobacco Pipe

An Industrial Designer by trade and currently serving as Peterson's in-house Pipe Specialist, Giacomo Penzo has spent much of his working life invested in crafting tools and instruments to work to their highest potential. Such skill combines well with his artistic eye to fashion beautiful pipes supported by long-lasting quality and exemplary engineering, and his personal shaping style runs the gamut from traditional pieces to more avant-garde designs.

Though not a classic shape in the context of early-1900s shape charts, the Devil Anse has become a traditional pipe shape by modern standards, growing in popularity ever since the early 2010s — the name drawn from Kevin Costner's pipe-smoking portrayal of William "Devil Anse" Hatfield in the History Channel's Hatfields and McCoys 2012 miniseries. The shape itself is essentially a Nosewarmer Belge design marked by a compact profile and a rounded, forward-canted bowl. Individual artisans have reinterpreted the bowl's specific shaping, and here Penzo has opted for a bulbous, near-spherical iteration. Its muscular curvature contrasts against the slender shank and stem for a pipe that fits substantially in hand and showcases lovely grain but remains lightweight for easy, all-day smoking comfort.