James Upshall P Grade EXL Smooth “89” Diamond Shank Bent Pot Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

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 original tagline for James Upshall pipes was “The Tradition Continues…”, which one could find adorning the boxes that these pipes came in. The line was a suggestion from the make’s US distributor, who believed that, owing to the Tilshead workshop’s historical connection to F. Charatan & Son and the quality and handicraft expressed by its pipes, James Upshall was the true heir to Charatan, especially given the uncertainty of the latter’s future after being acquired by Alfred Dunhill Ltd. One can extend this line of thinking further, however, when one looks at aspects of design common to the two, and the ways that James Upshall made both explicit reference and subtle allusion to Charatan’s aesthetics. To use this pipe as an example, the finish is quite Charatan-esque, with its golden contrast stain, and that was very much deliberate. Though the Tilshead workshop aimed for a quality akin to a good Charatan “Distinction” grade with the “P,” the finish was intended to emulate that of the Charatan “Perfection,” which is also why the “P” was called the “P.” Another seeming Charatan throwback was the size of James Upshall pipes, which were larger than the average factory briar and closer to Charatan’s freehands and, in both cases, oversized (non-magnum) pieces were designated as “Extra Large,” with James Upshall using a truncated “Ex.L” designation. Even the shapes taken on by James Upshall pipes were often in the vein of Charatan. Some were explicitly so, like the “Newmarket” shape featured even in early James Upshall catalogs (a throwback to the Charatan shape of the same name during its Reuben era), while others were simply recognizable to a trained eye. This pipe, for example, is a dead ringer for another classic Charatan design, the “89” “Bent Pot,” a broad, 3/4 bent shape with a saddle mouthpiece (Double Comfort during the Lane era) and a highly distinctive, paneled shank and stem base. It’s a loving homage to say the least, and if anyone could be trusted to carry the torch in that manner, it would of course be James Upshall.

This pipe is completely unsmoked.

Details:

Length: 6.4″ / 162.5mm

Bowl Width: 0.86 / 21.84mm

Bowl Depth: 1.61″ / 40.89mm

Weight: 2.6oz / 74g