Ashton 1991 Pebble Shell XX Rusticated & Sandblasted Panel 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.

Ashton’s Pebble Shell is unique among the workshop’s finishes during the Bill Taylor years, though one that was entirely consonant with Taylor’s approach to pipe making. He was, after all, was a steadfast innovator, creating a number of patented materials (such as Ashtonite for stems) and techniques (such as his oil curing and sandblasting process) that he employed in the production of Ashton pipes. What made the Pebble Shell different was that, unlike any other finish offered by Ashton at the time, it involved what could reasonably be called “rustication.” But it wasn’t quite a rusticated finish per se. Using a process of steaming turned stummels, picking away parts of their now-softened briar, and then sandblasting what was left of the exterior, Taylor produced a pipe that was even more tactile and craggy than Ashton’s standard sandblasts—which he, of course, patented. The Pebble Shell was, therefore, something of a rusticated and sandblasted hybrid finish, a rarity inside and outside of the Ashton workshop. Some Pebble Shells were given a very light finish, just as the Old Church series was, whereas others—like this one—wore the burgundy top-coat otherwise found on the Pebble Grain. This one is especially interesting, having been turned in a ridged, soft-paneled form that I would assume was modeled on old Barling and Dunhill Quaint shapes, though which also bears a striking similarity to Danish cobra and sphinx shapes. While Taylor’s Ashton (this pipe being from the first decade of his tenure at the helm) did occasionally experiment with Danish-style “freehand” shapes, as well as “quaint” shapes closer to the English tradition, designs such as this one were certainly not commonplace.

The condition is very good. Some rim darkening.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.80 / 20.32mm

Bowl Depth: 1.49″ /37.84mm

Weight: 1.9oz / 40g