2006 Ashton Pebble Grain XX Sandblasted Poker Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

Ashton is an English pipe brand created by William Ashton Taylor, a former Dunhill pipe-maker who left Dunhill in the 1980s to make pipes under his own name. Along with other pipe-makers such as Ken Barnes and Barry Jones of James Upshall and Les Wood of Ferndown, Ashton emerged as part of a new wave of high end, hand made British pipes in the late 20th century.

If we had to rank the greatest sandblasts in the history of pipes, whose pipes would we choose? For the traditionalist, there’s the family era Barling’s Make, patent era Dunhills, and mid-century Charatan; for those more inclined to the contemporary, there’s J.T. Cooke, Larry Roush, and a whole host of other, highly talented Americans. But it would be difficult to give a “top ten”—or even a “top five”—without including Ashton. More specifically, we would be remiss if we didn’t include William Taylor, Ashton’s founder and director between 1983 and 2009, when he unexpectedly passed. That’s not to say that Jimmy Craig, Bill’s successor, doesn’t make great pipes, but Bill’s sandblasting was a sight to behold. This sturdy poker from Bill’s last years, for example, features tight, crisp ring grain with a uniformity that is rarely found outside of the masters of the art. With a make such as Peterson or Dunhill—both excellent makes—this quality of finish ended up with its own designation and bumped-up grade (PSB and Ring Grain and Shilling respectively). With Ashton, on the other hand, it was not the exception, but the rule.

The condition is very good. Some rim darkening and a few scratches on the pipe’s sitter base.

 

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.76 / 19.30mm

Bowl Depth: 1.52″ / 38.60mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g