James Upshall 1980s P Grade Smooth Dublin Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

Description

James Upshall was, along with Ferndown and Ashton, part of a new wave of British hand-made, high-grade pipes in the late 20th century, with their founders largely coming from previous positions in the factories of companies such as Dunhill and Charatan. James Upshall was founded in 1978 by Barry Jones and Ken Barnes, both of whom had previously worked for Charatan and who had worked their way up to being carvers Charatan’s higher-end, non-standard shapes. Jones and Barnes’ pipes quickly grew to being something of a status symbol, and were enjoyed by King Hussein of Jordan, Anwar Sadat, Bing Crosby, Yul Brynner, Robert Wagner and Tom Selleck. The company also made house-brand pipes for Astleys in London. Sadly, James Upshall pipes are no longer made, but their reputation as some of the finest hand-turned British pipes lives on.

The “P” was the highest of James Upshall’s standard grades, notable for its excellent grain patterns. Taking its name from Charatan’s “Perfection” grade, the P was also Barry and Ken’s attempt to create their own version of the warm, walnut contrast stain used by Charatan. The Upshall boys were a little bolder when it came to comparing the P grade to Charatan in terms of quality however. As Ken Barnes would later recount, the P was, rather, much closer to Charatan’s “Distinction,” which in Charatan’s system was considerably higher than the “Perfection.” This particular P grade strikes a balance between two shapes dear to the hearts of Barry and Ken: the Dublin and the Lumberman. Having both worked for Charatan, whose Dublin shapes were legendary (and were firm favorites of Reuben Charatan and his successor Herman Lane), it’s fair to say that the two knew how to craft a world-class rendition of one. The Upshall workshop was also, however, renowned for its long shank shapes, such as the lumberman and the Canadian (Ken’s own favorite). Ken would later recount that the high-grade plateaux briar blocks required to turn a long shank shape with consistent straight grain were very rare, and that James Upshall had considerable demand for such shapes.

As this Upshall has no size stamp, it will have been made during the 1980s, as size stamps were not used until after Ken’s departure in 1989.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

 

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 157.4mm

Bowl Width: 1.02 / 25.90mm

Bowl Depth: 1.62″ / 41.14mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g