James Upshall P Grade EXL Smooth Footed 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. James Upshall pipes are no longer made, but their reputation as some of the finest hand-turned British pipes continues to endure.

James Upshall’s size system can appear a little odd at times. Since pipes were grouped into sizes based primarily on bowl height, it is not entirely uncommon to come across one that, for all intents and purposes, is an an extra large pipe, without being an Extra Large (or “Ex.L”) size. Likewise, there are James Upshall pipes that are quite typical in length, comparable to a group 5 or 6 in in the workshop’s system, but which are, nonetheless, Extra Large by virtue of their other proportions. This one, for example, is just a little over 6 inches long (a very reasonable length, I’m told), but that didn’t stop it from attaining an Extra Large designation, no doubt because it is still quite a sizeable pipe. A plateaux-topped cavalier, or footed Dublin, in the English freehand vein, the pipe has a good amount of heft to it, while remaining very much manageable for those who tend to shy away from magnums and the like. As for grading, this one is a “P,” whose light contrast finish was modeled on the old Charatan Perfection, though whose consistency of straight grain patterns was weighed against the Charatan Distinction grade of the legendary Lane era by James Upshall’s founders.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating. Some very minor scuffs on the bowl, though nothing major.

Details:

Length: 6.2″ / 15.748mm

Bowl Width: 0.86 / 21.84mm

Bowl Depth: 1.64″ / 41.65mm

Weight: 2.3oz / 68g