James Upshall Tradition Magnum Panel Shank Dublin 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, along with Les and Wood of Ferndown fame. Sadly, James Upshall pipes are no longer made, but their reputation as some of the best British pipes ever made lives on.

I’m a big proponent of the idea that all James Upshall pipes are high-grades. Even the humble Tilshead, one of which is firmly in my rotation, dwarfs the quality of many of the English pipes being made contemporaneously. But some high-grades are more high-grades than others, as the saying goes. After the Tilsheads, the rusticated and sandblasted pipes, and the S, A, and P grade Upshalls, came pipes which were even more impressive in their construction and graining. Here we find the B grades, the G grades, and so on, and we also find the Empire series. The Empire pipes were James Upshall’s magnum-sized offerings, which were also—as one would expect—carved from especially superb blocks of briar. This series was subdivided into Tradition, Old England, and Acclaim, having the same finishes as the A, P, and rusticated pipes respectively. This particular Upshall is from the Empire Tradition sub-series, taking the form of a large, long, panel shank Dublin, with remarkable straight grain and bird’s-eye patterns, as well as a hand-cut cumberland stem.

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

 

Details:

Length: 8.5″ / 215.9mm

Bowl Width: 0.96 / 24.38mm

Bowl Depth: 1.83″ / 46.48mm

Weight: 2.4oz / 70g