James Upshall B Grade Smooth Canadian Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

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.

During the workshop’s lifetime, most of James Upshall’s pipes were either Tilsheads, or they were the “standard” grades of S, A, and P. But, if a pipe was extraordinarily well grained, it had a chance to become a “high-grade”—which, given the exceptional quality of Upshall’s standard output, meant the latter were pretty special. The Upshall “B” was one of these high-grades and, per Ken Barnes, was roughly equivalent to a Charatan Executive grade. This one is a very nice, straight grain Canadian/Dublin hybrid, easily worthy of both the B grade and, by extension, a Charatan Executive from the best of its Lane era output (I’d personally rate it a little higher, actually). Based on the minimal stamping, this Upshall should be from around the workshop’s first decade, between 1978 and 1989.

The condition is very good. Chamber slightly over-reamed and minor handling marks.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.96 / 24.38mm

Bowl Depth: 1.65″ / 41.91mm

Weight: 1.2oz / 36g