Taylor Made, Bill Ashton Taylor, Smooth Banker Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates [SOLD OUT]

Description

Taylor Made pipes were made by Bill Ashton Taylor, an English artisan who worked for Dunhill before starting his own workshop. Along with other pipe-makers such as Ken Barnes and Barry Jones of James Upshall and Les Wood of Ferndown, Bill Taylor emerged as part of a new wave of high end, hand made British pipes in the late 20th century. Before he founded Ashton pipe and propelled to pipe-making superstardom, however, Taylor began his solo venture under the ‘Taylor Made’ name, which he also continued as a minor side project during Ashton’s rise.

I love Ashton pipes, especially those produced during Bill Taylor’s time making them. I even have a treasured birth-year Sovereign! So I was ecstatic to see this piece of history arrive on my desk. As the name implies, this is Bill Taylor’s handiwork, likely produced in the early 1980s before he founded Ashton in 1983. Those familiar with Ashton pipes will notice that its finishing is more or less equivalent to a Sovereign grade, with its light, blonde stain used to show off the beauty of its natural grain patterns. The shape is very interesting – a little different to Bill’s trademark traditional billiards and bulldogs, but it is nonetheless expertly designed and constructed, just as one would expect it to be.

I have a feeling that this pipe’s previous owner was a collector and admirer of Taylor’s work, just as I am. The condition is near-mint, with only some minor rim darkening to show for its previous use.

 

Details:

Length: 5.5″

Bowl Width: 19.8mm

Bowl Depth: 1.55″

Weight: 1.3oz / 39g