James Upshall P Grade Group 6 Smooth Apple Estate Briar Pipe, Unsmoked

James Upshall was 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.

The “P” was the highest of James Upshall’s “standard” grades, and one notable for its excellent grain patterns. Taking its name from Charatan’s “Perfection” grade, the “P” was Barry and Ken’s attempt to create their own version of the warm, walnut contrast stain used by Charatan on such pipes. The Upshall boys were a little bolder when it came to comparing the “P” to Charatan in terms of quality, however. As Ken Barnes would later recount, the “P” was, rather, much closer to Charatan’s “Distinction,” presumably those of the quality Barnes and Jones saw first-hand when working there (under Reuben Charatan and Herman Lane, and Herman Lane, respectively).

This one takes the form of a long, large, thick-walled apple, with an approach to proportions that was quite typical of the Tilshead workshop. In fact, one could write a whole article on the matter of size when it comes to the late 20th century English workshops whose founders came out of its historic factories, from James Upshall, to Ashton, to Ferndown, and so on. One finds that these pipes eschew the tendency toward slight and slender designs that characterized English briars in the midcentury, favoring something just as (if not more) beautiful, but with a significant increase in heft. That’s also partly what makes pipes like this “P” grade so impressive, as the consistency of its straight grain patterning will have required even more selectivity as regards its briar, and skill as regards its turning, than it would had the pipe been, say, a simple group 3 or 4 rendition.

This pipe is completely unsmoked, with an original bowl coating.

Details:

Length: 6.8″ / 172.72mm

Bowl Width: 0.83 / 21.08mm

Bowl Depth: 1.60″ / 40.64mm

Weight: 2.4oz / 70g