James Upshall E Grade EXL 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.

The “E” grade was the third-highest attainable by James Upshall pipes, beaten only by the extremely rare “X” grade and the practically mythical “XX”. It was, per Ken Barnes, his and Jones’s attempt to match the quality of the Charatan Coronation grade, which is ambitious to say the very least. But, if anyone could do it, it was the Tilshead boys. Here we have an example of what an “E” grade looked like; taking the form of a classic Dublin in the English vein, its broad bowl is lined with 360 degrees of exceptionally fine, “angel hair” straight grain and, to continue that metaphor, its rim is a veritable halo of bird’s-eye patterns. Even more impressive, this particular “E” is one of James Upshall’s oversized pipes, belonging to the “Ex.L,” or “Extra Large” group. These pipes were the second-largest produced by the Tilshead workshop, rivaled only by its magnum Empire Series pipes.

This pipe is completely unsmoked. Some small, superficial scratches on the bowl, though nothing major.

Details:

Length: 6.9″ / 175.2mm

Bowl Width: 1.01 / 25.65mm

Bowl Depth: 1.75″ / 44.45mm

Weight: 3.0oz / 86g