James Upshall P Smooth Liverpool 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. While James Upshall pipes are no longer made, their reputation as some of the best British handmade pipes lives on.

This looks to be an early James Upshall from the 1980s, as pipes before 1990 did not have the “FH” (“freehand” designation found on later pipes. They were still freehands, in the sense that James Upshall didn’t use shape charts or pre-set machine methods, the designation was simply added later on. The design is a slightly egg-like Liverpool, almost bordering on a cutty or belge shape, with beautiful cross grain highlighted by Upshall’s “P” walnut stain.

The condition is good. Some darkening and scratches on the rim. I do wonder whether the stem is a replacement, but I can’t be completely sure. I’ve adjusted the price accordingly in any case.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.82″ / 46.22mm

Weight: 1.7oz / 50g