James Upshall Empire Series Tradition Magnum Pickaxe Dublin Smooth 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 Empire Series of James Upshall pipes was exclusively for magnum-sized pieces (or “pocket magnum,” at the very least), and were furthermore exemplars for the mastery of the workshop’s craftsmen when it came to shaping and to chasing the finest grain patterns around. This necessitated so much time and energy per pipe, as well as the large, consistently high-quality blocks of briar needed to make them, that production was extremely limited, and prices—especially at the workshop’s peak—were exceedingly high.

This one takes the form of an especially long, tall, Dublin-skater hybrid, with straight grain lining its slight contrast lit, chestnut tan finish.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. Note that this James Upshall has an original, brindled acrylic mouthpiece, rather than an ebonite one, which was offered for a few custom orders during the workshop’s lifetime (especially in the European market).

Details:

Length: 7.6″ / 193.0mm

Bowl Width: 0.92 / 23.36mm

Bowl Depth: 1.91″ / 48.51mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 66g