James Upshall EXL Extra Large Smooth Bent Dublin 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, along with Les and Wood of Ferndown fame. Sadly, James Upshall pipes are no longer made, but their reputation as some of the best British pipes ever made lives on.

Just like the Charatan workshop they had once been part of, James Upshall’s Kennedy Barnes and Barry Jones had special designations for the small number of oversized pipes they produced. After the standard 4, 5, and 6 group pipes JU offered, there were the EXL pipes which, of course, recall the Extra Large Charatans. At over 7 inches in length, this James Upshall A-grade is just shy of magnum proportions, but this may be simply because it’s a long, slender kind of giant. The pipe features excellent straight grain and an uncommon, bare plateau rim, as well as an original, hand cut acrylic stem, which is even more rare for an Upshall. My records from the previous owner indicate that this pipe was custom-made by Barry Jones for a client who asked specifically for an acrylic saddle.

Despite being tailor made, this pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating, and comes with its original sleeve. Box is for display purposes only.

 

Details:

Length: 7.2″ / 182.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 2.02″ / 51.30mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g