James Upshall A Grade Group 6 Partially Rusticated Rhodesian 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, along with many of the other major makes of the era. James Upshall pipes are no longer made, but their reputation as some of the finest hand-turned British pipes continues to endure.

Not unlike at Charatan, James Upshall’s grading system underwent a number of evolutions and expansion during the make’s lifetime. The latter’s “A” grade was introduced by Barry Jones in the 1990s, acting as an intermediate tier between the “S” and the “P.” A new finish was also introduced to mark the “A” grade; while the “S” had a deep, claret hue and the “P” wore a golden contrast stain, the “A” was dressed in a chestnut top-coat, one that was relatively reserved, yet still clear enough to let the briar’s grain patterns shine through. In this instance, the finish was applied to a large, stout Rhodesian rendition, with a good amount of flame grain lining the bottom half of its bowl. As is often the case with James Upshalls, there’s an additional, interesting bit of overlap with this particular design, that being its rim. While F. Charatan & Son was known primarily for its smooth finishes (and a few sandblasted lines), Charatan pipes did, on occasion, feature rustication—but only partially. Most often, rustication was used for the rims of Charatan pipes, emulating the live plateaux edge of the briar. Here we find something a little similar, giving an aesthetic halfway between plateaux burl and a “fumed” rim.

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

Details:

Length: 6.6″ / 167.6mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.55″ / 39.37mm

Weight: 2.9oz / 84g