James Upshall P ExL Smooth Apple w/ Silver 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. Sadly, James Upshall pipes are no longer made, but their reputation as some of the finest hand-turned British pipes lives on.

James Upshall’s Ex.L (Extra Large) pipes were the largest the workshop offered outside of their magnum Empire Series output, though the way these pipes were categorized into size groups was somewhat unorthodox. Instead of taking the pipe as whole into account when separating it into, for example, a group 5, 6, or Ex.L, the deciding measure was the proportions of the bowl. Hence, one can find plenty of examples of pipes that are the same length that, nonetheless, belong to completely different groups. This apple, for instance, is a perfectly respectable 6 inches from front face to button, but it possesses a bowl whose sheer height and heft would make it difficult to classify as anything but extra large. Given that so much of freehand turning is about learning to stop when the briar itself tells you to, it’s quite clear to see why Jones et al. chose to slough off far less than one might for a more classically proportioned apple. The grain is simply extraordinary, which is likely also why this pipe was fitted with an engine-turned sterling silver collar by the workshop’s go-to silversmith (and good friend), Les Wood.

The condition is great. Some inner rim darkening, but nonetheless remarkably preserved.

 

Details:

Length: 6″ / 152.4mm

Bowl Width: 0.87 / 22.09mm

Bowl Depth: 1.74″ / 44.19mm

Weight: 1.8oz / 52g