James Upshall Empire Series Acclaim Pocket Magnum Rusticated 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 James Upshall “Empire Series” was comprised of the largest pipes made by the Tilshead workshop. While James Upshall pipes were typically already quite large, and while there were also oversized, “Ex.L,” or “Extra Large” pipes made in each of the James Upshall grades normally offered, the Empire Series went even further as regarded proportions. Though there was no hard and fast rule as to how big a pipe had to be to belong to the Empire Series, each was what could reasonably be described as a magnum-sized pipe, or a “mini-magnum,” or “pocket magnum,” at the very least. This paneled, plateaux-topped freehand Dublin, for instance, is not overly lengthy, but it is nonetheless a big pipe, with a hefty, deep chambered bowl.

Each entry in the Empire Series corresponded to one of the grades or finishes in the Tilshead workshop’s typical output, with the Acclaim being a super-sized Bark (though some sandblasted pipes also fell under the same title). The Bark itself is quite interesting, having been conceived during the 1980s after Ken Barnes and Barry Jones visited the high-grade workshops of Italy and took a liking to their rusticated pipes. Upon returning, the pair started making a few pipes carved in the quintessentially Italian pebble-dash style from time to time. In time, however, the James Upshall approach to rustication moved closer toward a more “English” style, as seen here. The “Bark” thus became a micro-rusticated, red-tinted burgundy finish, not unlike that of Ferndown. Given that both Ken Barnes and Barry Jones were good friends with Les Wood, who was one half of the Ferndown duo, I have wondered in the past whether Les might have been something of an influence in that regard.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

Details:

Length: 6.1″ / 154.9mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.93″ / 49.02mm

Weight: 2.9oz / 84g