Ashton 2004 Sovereign XXX Smooth Poker w/ Silver Spigot 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. In this instance we find Taylor’s signature finishing applied to an exceptionally stout poker shape, a heft that is beautifully juxtaposed with the bowl’s sea of delicate bird’s-eye grain. Even more exceptional, perhaps, is that this poker also features an engraved, sterling silver spigot mount, which was far from common on Ashton pipes during the Taylor years. Originally, the silver and gold mounting of Ashton pipes was contracted out to Les Wood, who ran L&JS Silverware alongside his and Dolly’s L&JS Briars, though based on the year this one was made (2004), as well as the style of the mount, it looks to be Jimmy Craig’s handiwork. Craig, after all, not only worked for Dunhill before joining Ashton, but in the former’s silver and goldsmithing department, just as Les Wood did. In fact, on a tangential note, Les and Jimmy had planned to go into silversmithing as partners after leaving Dunhill, with “L&JS” originally being an acronym for “Leslie and James Silverware.”

The condition is great. Some darkening of the innermost rim and slight tooth chatter. A well kept Taylor-era piece, as they say.

Details:

Length: 6.6″ / 167.6mm

Bowl Width: 0.84 / 21.33mm

Bowl Depth: 1.60″ / 40.64mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 76g