James Upshall DS Smooth Lovat Estate Briar Pipe, English Estates

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.

We’ve had quite a few interesting James Upshall pipes come through over the years, though I think this might be the first example of a “DS” grade. I say “grade,” but this should be understood in a sense that is looser than “grading” as normally understood, including the James Upshall grading system, but which may still have functioned as a kind of grade. That’s because, unlike James Upshall’s other grades, “DS” stood not for a finish or a quality per se, but for an individual: Desmond Sautter. Sautter was one of the first retailers of James Upshall pipes, which he did through his high-end, specialty tobacconist shops in London. Sautter’s customers loved James Upshall pipes with Barnes later recalling that, at one point, Sautter was selling more James Upshall pipes in his shops alone than distributors were across America.

Given Sautter’s fondness for James Upshall pipes, and given how successful he was at selling them, he asked Barnes and Jones if he could have some of the pipes stamped with his own initials. Barnes and Jones obliged, and thus the James Upshall “DS” came into being. Sometimes these pipes were stamped with a typical James Upshall grade in addition to the “DS” mark, while others were not. Barnes further speculated that Sautter may have chosen and priced the latter according to his own sense of their quality, thus allowing “DS” to operate as a grade in itself. This particular pipe strikes me as a “P” as regards quality and finish, especially given the interplay of its light brown contrast stain with the bowl’s billowing bird’s-eye and cross-grain.

The condition is good. Chamber slightly over-reamed, some minor residual oxidation on the mouthpiece, and some general finish fading.

Details:

Length: 6.3″ / 160.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.91 / 23.11mm

Bowl Depth: 1.83″ / 46.48mm

Weight: 2.0oz / 58g