James Upshall Smooth Dublin 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.

It’s a shame that the stamping is quite faded on this James Upshall, as this means I can’t say for certain what grade it is. The stain looks like a P grade, but the straight grain is so nice I would wonder whether it might have been a high-grade, such as a B. Grading aside, it’s certainly a large, beautiful pipe, rendered in a Dublin shape straight out of the Charatan playbook. Expect long, relaxing smokes, and a particular affinity for mixtures, especially English blends.

The condition is very good. Some inner rim darkening and light char on the innermost lip of the rim, a few minor handling marks, and the aforementioned faded stamping.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 1.03 / 26.16mm

Bowl Depth: 1.84″ / 46.73mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 62g