James Upshall Bark EXL Partially Rusticated Bent Billiard 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.

Aside from its Empire Series, the Ex.L was James Upshall’s largest size grouping, though as these groupings were based primarily on bowl height, there are plenty of examples of James Upshall pipes that are larger than one might imagine based on the nomenclature. Thus even an Ex.L can often strike as something any other pipe maker would consider a genuine magnum. I would consider this to be just such an example. At around 7 inches in length, this swan-neck bent billiard more than earns its size grouping, though it is not without the same supple elegance that one finds on the magnum LC variations of a company such as Dunhill.
Regarding finishes, this one wears the “Bark” rustication introduced in the later decades of the James Upshall make. I’ve remarked that the James Upshall Bark was quite similar to the Ferndown one. Given that Les Wood and Barry Jones were (as they continue to be remain) good friends back when James Upshall and Ferndown were still active, I have also wondered if Jones might have learned a thing or two from the Woods.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. Some slight scuffing on the rim, but nothing major in any sense.

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.82 / 20.82mm

Bowl Depth: 1.60″ / 40.64mm

Weight: 2.8oz / 80g