James Upshall G Smooth Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, 9mm, 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. While James Upshall pipes are no longer made, their reputation as some of the best British handmade pipes lives on.

While James Upshall pipes are most known for their Tilshead, S, A, and P grades, alongside these four fundamental categories were a variety of other grades, most of which rose even further in quality – and, of course, price. These included the “G” grade, for walnut-stained, straight grain pipes. The G pipes sat above not only the S, A, and P grade pipes, but also the “B” grade. It is counter-intuitive to say the least, but the main takeaway is that G grade pipes were as rare as they were beautiful. This large bent Dublin is a fitting representative, while also being highly reminiscent of the top of the line output of the Charatan workshop.

The condition is very good. Some rim darkening and slightly over-reamed at the top of the chamber. This James Upshall is chambered for 9mm filters, but should accommodate an adapter of some variety if the buyer prefers using it without a filter.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 1.04 / 26.41mm

Bowl Depth: 1.7″ / 43.18mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 74g