Ashton 1986 Pebble Grain XXX Sandblasted Brandy 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.

The “Pebble Grain” was Bill Taylor’s answer to Dunhill’s Shell Briar. This would already be easily deduced from its craggy, dark burgundy sandblast, but there’s another connection that brought the two finishes together. Like the early Dunhill Shell Briar, Ashton pipes were, before being finished, oil cured using a patented method of Taylor’s own invention. This was crucial for achieving the kinds of craggy sandblasts that early Dunhill pipes were known for, and which Ashton pipes revived. Perhaps another thing that unites this particular Ashton to Dunhill is that it is a very rare example of one of Taylor’s pipes that doesn’t quite fit the mold of Anglo-French design. Like the similarly uncommon Dunhill Collector, this Ashton looks to borrow shaping techniques—and, indeed, a plateaux burl rim—from the Danish approach to pipe design, with the result being a slightly freeform and very distinct brandy. It reminds me a little of the W.O. Larsen sandblasted Straight Grain pipes Benni Jorgensen pioneered around the same time this pipe was made, and which he too had to create a special process for to achieve the kind of ring grain seen here.

The condition is great. Minor inner rim darkening, but it’s clearly been looked after.

Details:

Length: 5.7″ / 144.7mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.50″ / 38.10mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 54g