James Upshall A Grade Group 6 Smooth Canadian 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. Sadly, James Upshall pipes are no longer made, but their reputation as some of the finest hand-turned British pipes lives on.

While Charatan pipes are perhaps most famously associated with the Dublin shape, and while James Upshall are similarly associated with some of the best of the British Dublins, one of the favorite shapes of Barnes, Jones, and co. was in fact the Canadian. This one keeps fairly close to the proportions of the Anglo-French staple, while also being much larger than the early briars of London and Saint-Claude—not unlike the signature, long-shank shapes of Italian artisans. With the extra advantage of being hand-turned, allowing for a better attentiveness to natural briar patterns, the result is a sizeable, modernized classic of considerable beauty.

This pipe is completely unsmoked.

 

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.79 / 20.06mm

Bowl Depth: 1.75″ / 44.45mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g