James Upshall

James Upshall was one of a number of highly significant English workshop makes to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s, an emergence largely driven by former Charatan and Dunhill employees who wanted to start a pipe making enterprise of their own. In the case of James Upshall, or, as it was originally known, The Tilshead Pipe Company, the make was founded by three ex-Charatan men: Kenneth Barnes, Kennedy Barnes, and Barry Jones. Kenneth was a manager at F. Charatan & Son, Kennedy was a briar cutter, and Jones was a bowl-turner, and, when Alfred Dunhill Ltd. purchased Charatan around 1976, the three of them left to start anew. Upon founding their own workshop and shopfront, the three set about crafting high-grade, handmade pipes, just as they had done for Charatan back during its legendary “Lane era.”

James Upshall pipes were quickly recognized as being some of the finest briars on the market, boasting celebrities and pipe connoisseurs such as King Hussein of Jordan, Anwar Sadat, Bing Crosby, Yul Brynner, Robert Wagner, and Tom Selleck as among their admirers. At a time of overwhelming consolidation in English pipe production, James Upshall, along with contemporaries like Ashton and Ferndown, stood out for their distinct quality, with each pipe being made by hand and by expert craftsmen. James Upshall pipes are no longer made, though their distinguished reputation nonetheless endures.