James Upshall Smooth Dublin w/ Les Wood Silver Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

James Upshall was, along with Ferndown and Ashton, part of a new wave of British hand-made, high-grade pipes in the late 20th century, with their founders largely coming from previous positions in the factories of companies such as Dunhill and Charatan. James Upshall was founded in 1978 by Barry Jones and Ken Barnes, both of whom had previously worked for Charatan and who had worked their way up to being carvers Charatan’s higher-end, non-standard shapes. Jones and Barnes’ pipes quickly grew to being something of a status symbol, and were enjoyed by King Hussein of Jordan, Anwar Sadat, Bing Crosby, Yul Brynner, Robert Wagner and Tom Selleck. The company also made house-brand pipes for Astleys in London. While James Upshall pipes are no longer made, their reputation as some of the best British handmade pipes lives on.

It is always a treat to see the greats of English pipe-making working together. This James Upshall A-grade Dublin is a subtle, but nonetheless beautiful example. After all, it was turned and cut by former Charatan masters Barry Jones, Kennedy Barnes, and the Upshall team, before being fitted with an ornate, engine-turned sterling silver band by former Dunhill master Leslie Wood. The wide, slightly squat shaping of the pipe is very much in the Lane era Charatan mold, albeit with a taper stem and Upshall’s distinctly thick bowl walls. Lastly, the pipe is finished in Upshall’s chestnut tan stain, draped over flame grain that shines almost as brightly as its L&JS silverware.

This Upshall is completely unsmoked and comes with its original leather sleeve. Box for illustrative purposes only.

 

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.91 / 23.11mm

Bowl Depth: 1.49″ / 37.84mm

Weight: 2.5oz / 72g