James Upshall w/ Bill Taylor Sandblast Liverpool 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.

For a long time, sandblasted James Upshall pipes were something of a mystery. James Upshall is widely known for its smooth finishes, and non-smooth finishes were not produced in the early days of the James Upshall make. Near the end of the 2010s, and prior to his sudden passing, Ken Barnes was gracious enough to spend time on pipe forums fielding questions from Charatan and James Upshall fans. What he said about Upshall sandblasts was fascinating: that, yes, no sandblasted or rusticated James Upshall pipes were made until the late 1980s. And technically, James Upshall did not do sandblasting. Instead, the blasting was outsourced to another highly esteemed English pipe-maker: the late, great Bill Taylor, who at that time was making Ashton pipes. It also appears that very few of these sandblasted Upshalls were made, in part due to how busy Taylor was with his own make. In any case, as would be expected the ring grain sandblasting on this billiard is exquisite. It may be a James Upshall pipe in name, but I can’t help but think of it as essentially an Upshall-Ashton collaboration.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

 

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.74 / 18.79mm

Bowl Depth: 1.56″ / 39.62mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g