Ashton 1985 Sovereign XXX Smooth Billiard Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

Description

Ashton is an English pipe brand, one originally created by William Ashton Taylor. Taylor worked at Dunhill from an early age, becoming one of the company’s most accomplished pipe makers. But Taylor was also one of a number of craftsmen and women who who left Dunhill in the 1970s and 1980s, hoping to create something of their own. After experimenting with a couple of different projects, Taylor ultimately founded Ashton, a workshop for high-end, handmade pipes staffed by himself and other industry veterans like Frank Lincoln and Sid Cooper. Later, Taylor’s team were joined by another Dunhill alumnus, Jimmy Craig, who would take over the running of the workshop after Taylor’s sudden passing in 2009. Along with other workshops, such as Ferndown and James Upshall, Ashton would play a decisive role in the emergence of a new English high-grades scene in the late 20th century and beyond.

Dunhill’s Root Briar is undoubtedly one of the most iconic finishes in Anglo-French pipe design. It is little wonder, then, that several ex-Dunhill workers would go on to produce an analog when establishing their own, artisan workshops. Two of these individuals were Les Wood and Dolly Wood, who collectively created Ferndown pipes and its “Root” finish. Another was Bill Taylor who, along with a few other Dunhill alumni, created Ashton pipes and its “Sovereign” line. Just as Dunhill had done until around the late 1960s Taylor’s Ashton pipes were made from oil cured stummels, this time using a patented method of Taylor’s own making. This, combined with the handicraft that went into the Sovereign, made for some genuinely impressive pipes, and a genuine rival to their counterparts at England’s most famous make.

Here we have an Ashton Sovereign from a very early period in Taylor’s project, made just a couple of years after Ashton was formally founded. Had it been a Dunhill, one gets the impression that its straight grain may well have earned it a Dead Root grade, rather than a standard Root Briar finish. As it was an Ashton instead, however, such a consistency in the briar was simply to be expected.

The condition is very good. Some slight inner rim darkening and a few very small scratches on the bowl.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.93 / 23.62mm

Bowl Depth: 1.65″ / 41.91mm

Weight: 1.6oz / 46g