James Upshall Bark Group 6 Partially Rusticated Calabash 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.

When James Upshall was founded, the company (Tilshead Pipe Co.) only sold smooth pipes. But, in the later decades of the 20th century, a strong case was being made by other English workshops, such as Ashton and Ferndown, that there was nothing stopping a sandblasted or a rusticated pipe from being handmade and high-grade—though in the case of the latter, this was something the Italians had known for even longer. The first rusticated James Upshall pipes were introduced around 1987, per Ken Barnes, and were carved in a pebble-dash manner not unlike high-grade Italian pipes (using techniques purportedly learned from the Ser Jacopo workshop). Within a few years, however, the finish had changed and received a formal name, the “Bark.” James Upshall pipes were now rusticated in a more “English” manner, and were in fact curiously similar to Ferndown’s finish of the same name. Given that Les Wood and Barry Jones were good friends (and still are, last I checked), I have wondered if something of the Woods’ approach to finishing rubbed off on Jones.

The shaping on this Bark, on the other hand, much more in Jones’s wheelhouse, but in a quite curious way. I haven’t personally seen many James Upshall pipes in this kind of design in any of the grades offered. But it is not completely surprising to see, given the history of the James Upshall workshop. After all, Charatan had a shape very similar this one, the 83, and many classic Charatan shapes were given a new life as James Upshall pipes. Charatan called it a “Cavalier,” though we today would likely refer to it by a different name: the calabash.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. A few very slight scratches on the bowl and some very minor stem oxidation.

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.90 / 22.86mm

Bowl Depth: 1.81″ / 45.97mm

Weight: 1.1oz / 34g