James Upshall A Grade Grp 6 Smooth “Newmarket” Stack 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.

Keen eyed fans of Charatan pipes will likely recognize the design of this James Upshall. It is, after all, very close to the former’s early shape 58 Newmarket—itself an updated briar re-imagining of clay pipe shapes. Barry Jones will have turned many a Newmarket in his time under both Reuben Charatan and Herman Lane, and Ken Barnes will also have been very familiar with the shape from his own time there. It is therefore unsurprising that Barnes and Jones included their own rendition in the early James Upshall catalogs (even retaining the name “Newmarket) and that it remained a common refrain throughout the workshop’s lifetime. This one is a group 6 rendition in James Upshall’s grade “A” chestnut tan finish, which does well to highlight a bowl alive with bird’s-eye.

This pipe is completely unsmoked.

 

Details:

Length: 6.5″ / 165.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.77″ / 44.95mm

Weight: 1.5oz / 44g