James Upshall A Grade EXL Smooth Poker Sitter 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. James Upshall pipes are no longer made, but their reputation as some of the finest hand-turned British pipes continues to endure.

The “Ex.L,” or “Extra Large” was the second largest size designation accorded to James Upshall pipes, though it should be noted that the only James Upshall pipes that exceeded their stature were the very rare, magnum-sized Empire Series. One could think of the James Upshall Extra Large as comparable to a Charatan Extra Large freehand, for example, with the Empire Series being more like if there was a such thing as a Charatan Extra, Extra Large.

This one takes the form of a hefty poker rendition (or, perhaps, a cherrywood), with a tall, almost imposing bowl covered in 360 degrees of flame grain patterns. Interestingly, rather than having a live plateaux rim, it looks to have been partially rusticated so as to emulate such, which was quite common back at Charatan during the Lane years. I’m not sure how the technique came into being, but it’s a good way of expressing the ruggedness of the medium in a more measured way than leaving it entirely natural.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. Some slight scratches on the base of the bowl, which is fairly common for large sitters.

Details:

Length: 6.3″ / 160.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.71″ / 43.43mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g