Astleys of London, Group 6 Bent Prince Estate Briar Pipe

Description

Astleys was one of London’s most historic pipe and tobacco shops. Like many pipe tobacconists, its owners had pipes made specially to be sold under the shop’s name. Astleys pipes, however, were made by some of the premier pipe manufacturers and artisans in the UK, such as Dunhill, Charatan, Les Wood, and Ken Barnes and Barry Jones of James Upshall. As a result, Astleys pipes are prized for their quality, and as examples of the very finest British pipes.

This Astleys is larger than I’m used to seeing from the historic English tobacconist. It’s no less elegant, however. The shape is somewhat like a prince, though it’s fuller and more rounded than princes tend to be, and the stem is shorter in relation to the shank. If I had to guess, I would say that this was made by Ken and Barry at James Upshall. It’s just a guess, but the masterful coaxing out of the straight grain that covers the bowl, along with the fairly unique shaping (James Upshall never used shape charts), makes me think it might be one of theirs.

The condition is great. It may have been buffed a little too strongly, leading to a fading of the nomenclature and a slight narrowing of the stem, but these are very minor imperfections. Even the rim still shines.

Details:

Length: 6.2″

Bowl Width: 25.2mm

Bowl Depth: 1.5″

Weight: 1.9oz / 56g