James Upshall P grade Smooth Bent Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates [SOLD]

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.

What do you get when you cross two of Charatan’s best freehand carvers, naturally seasoned Greek briar, and absolutely no shape charts? A great pipe. Specifically, a James Upshall pipe. This one definitely has some things in common with the Lane-era Charatan freehands, from its long, saddle stem (I imagine it must have been difficult to lose the double-comfort muscle memory), to its plateau rim, to its overall curvature. Even more interestingly, from the nomenclature – specifically the lack of a size and ‘FH’ freehand designation (all JU pipes were freehands), this looks to be an earlier piece, probably being from the 1980s.

The condition is good. There’s some rim darkening, and one or two handling marks, but these won’t affect the pipe’s smoking properties. I’d say it still looks mighty fine, too.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.86 / 21.84mm

Bowl Depth: 1.81″ / 45.97mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g