James Upshall Tilshead Group 6 Smooth Zulu 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, 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 Tilshead was the first rung on the ladder of James Upshall’s grading system, named for the English village where the company’s workshop was located (a naming practice that is something of a tradition in English pipe-making). They were made the exact same way as the various grades above them, being hand turned and having hand cut stems, and even shared similar finishes with these other grades, such as the A and S. The only difference was the grain patterns, but even then, it’s hard to consider the Tilshead a “second,” as one finds, for example with Dunhill’s Parker, or even Comoy’s Guildhall pipes. This one might be considered an especially stout Zulu rendition, dressed in a deep walnut finish. On the other hand, if we’re being pedantic, it is technically a yachtsman or—as Reuben Charatan would have called it, a Huntsman.

The condition is good. Minor inner rim darkening and a few small scratches around the bowl.

Details:

Length: 7″ / 177.8mm

Bowl Width: 0.95 / 24.13mm

Bowl Depth: 1.48″ / 37.59mm

Weight: 2.1oz / 60g