James Upshall B Grade Group 6 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, 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.

During the workshop’s lifetime, most James Upshall pipes were either Tilsheads (which functioned as an “entry level” pipe), or they were “S,” “A,” or “P” grades (which were the workshop’s “standard” grades). But, if a pipe was extraordinarily well grained, it had a chance to become one of James Upshall’s “high-grades.” Given that a “standard” James Upshall was already quite exceptional, these high grades were very special indeed. The “B” was the first rung on the high-grades ladder, one which the late Ken Barnes considered roughly equivalent to a Charatan Executive grade (presumably a Lane era example, as he left Charatan during its acquisition by Dunhill).

In the case of this group 6 “B” grade, it is an extraordinary pipe, one that proves once again that—as James Upshall’s US distributor noted in the 1980s—the Tilshead workshop was the true successor to Charatan’s Mansell Street factory. Taking the form of a large saddle Dublin, its light, near-natural finish showcases a bowl surrounded by straight grain an topped with a glimmering ring of pure bird’s-eye.

This pipe is completely unsmoked. There’s a couple of very light scratches on the bowl, but it’s nonetheless well preserved.

Details:

Length: 6.7″ / 170.1mm

Bowl Width: 0.99 / 25.14mm

Bowl Depth: 1.52″ / 38.60mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 62g