James Upshall Bark Rusticated Zulu 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 handmade British pipes lives on.

I’d never seen a rusticated James Upshall until recently, but after doing a little digging, it looks like Barry Jones and co. began offering them as a means of diversifying their available products. For reference, when James Upshall was founded, the company only sold smooth pipes. But, in the later decades of the 20th century, a pretty strong case was being made by other English workshops, such as Ashton and Ferndown, that there was nothing stopping a sandblasted or a rusticated pipe from being handmade and high-grade—something the Italians had known for even longer. Looking at this one, a strikingly modern rendition of the traditional Zulu (though one not entirely dissimilar from Charatan’s shape 50 Zulu), I do wonder whether Les Wood and Dolly Wood were sources of inspiration in the genesis of its finish. Not only is the texture and stain of the finish quite similar, another curious point of overlap is what Barry Jones called the James Upshall rusticated line—”Bark.” In any case, I do like it.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

 

Details:

Length: 5.8″ / 147.3mm

Bowl Width: 0.76 / 19.30mm

Bowl Depth: 1.64″ / 41.65mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g