James Upshall Sandblasted Bent Billiard 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.

For a long time, sandblasted James Upshall pipes were something of a mystery. They’re far more uncommon than the workshop’s smooth finishes, and were non-existent in the early days of the James Upshall make. In more recent years, prior to his passing, Ken Barnes was gracious enough to spend time on pipes forums fielding questions from Charatan and James Upshall fans. What he said about Upshall sandblasts was fascinating: that, yes, no sandblasted or rusticated James Upshall pipes were made until the late 1980s; the sandblasts that were made, however, were blasted by none other than Bill Taylor, who at that time was making Ashton pipes. Knowing that Bill had a hand it in, I’m far less surprised with this impressively deep, ring grain sandblasted bent billiard that landed on my desk. After all, it’s an Upshall-Taylor collaboration: what more could you want?

The condition is very good. Some rim darkening and a spot of rim char.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.89 / 22.60mm

Bowl Depth: 1.77″ / 44.95mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 74g