Ashton Claret XXX Sandblasted Bulldog Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

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.

I’ve mentioned before how the distinctly squat O and ODA 838 shapes once made by Dunhill would find new life in the imaginations of artisans across the world. Some of these artisans would be thousands of miles away from Dunhill’s London premises, such as North America’s J.T. Cooke, Michael Parks, or Jesse Jones, but a very notable handful of them would be much, much closer. Both Bill Taylor and his protégé (and eventual successor) Jimmy Craig began their careers in pipes at Dunhill, and it’s a safe bet that they both had experience with the O and ODA 838. From its earliest years, Ashton has, from time to time, continued to pay homage to this classic shape, which is always pulled off beautifully. This particular rendition comes from the Claret line, which I’d also wager is an homage to another, less widely known Dunhill design, that being the Red Bark finish. The latter was only produced for about 15 years, likely due to a combination of economic factors and a few mis-steps by Dunhill’s management. Later on, it ended up being a cult classic and collectors’ favorite, being ressurrected by Dunhill themselves in the form of the Ruby Bark and, presumably, Ashton in the Claret. This one features the hallmarks of Ashton pipes in general: a full figure, great shaping, crisp, ring grain sandblasting, and a patented Ashtonite stem.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. It comes with its original leather sleeve.

 

Details:

Length: 6.6″ / 167.6mm

Bowl Width: 0.85 / 21.59mm

Bowl Depth: 1.21″ / 30.73mm

Weight: 2.0oz / 58g