Ashton Pebble Grain (1990s) Billiard 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.

This Ashton doesn’t have a date code on it. Thankfully, I can spot a Bill Taylor pipe a mile away. The main trick is learning the difference between a Taylor button (the end of the mouthpiece) and a Craig one. Though there’s nothing wrong with Craig’s stems, the two have recognizably different approaches to buttons, with Taylor’s being more oval-shaped, and Craig’s being flatter and more rectangular.
As to why this pipe wasn’t fully stamped, it is said that, during the 1990s, Ashton pipes imported into the USA were not given date codes, as it was feared that, if a pipe stayed on the shelf for a long time, customers would not want an “old pipe.” Which is quite funny really, because now, Ashton collectors tend to consider the older pipes to be the most valuable.
The pipe itself is a classic English billiard, sandblasted with exactly the kind of craggy ring grain expected from Taylor’s Ashton tenure, and completed with a sterling silver collar.

The condition is very good. Some minor rim darkening and slightly faded stamping.

 

Details:

Length: 5.2″ / 132.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.71 / 18.03mm

Bowl Depth: 1.42″ / 36.06mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 32g