James Upshall Empire Series Tradition XXL Smooth Oom Paul w/ Cumberland 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 exceptionally large Oom Paul, with perhaps more than a slight nod to the “house pipe” designs of various classic Anglo-French makes. Dressed in a chestnut finish that accentuates a wealth of flame grain beneath it, this particular Tradition features a little something extra in relation to other James Upshall pipes—a cumberland mouthpiece. While the majority of James Upshall pipes featured vulcanite mouthpieces, a small number were, for a time, fitted using hand-cut, red and black brindled cumberland rod—albeit with a significant premium attached. Given that the Empire Series was already a very pricy pipe, I can only imagine what this would have cost back in the day.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. Some very minor, residual oxidation on the mouthpiece.

Details:

Length: 7.5″ / 190.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.88 / 22.35mm

Bowl Depth: 1.88″ / 45.72mm

Weight: 4.1oz / 118g