James Upshall - Am I Missing Something?

[Briar Lee]

This passage by Ken Barnes is precious:

I would not be able to say the quantities/yields from recent productions, although 30 years ago we were making approximately 45 pipes per day. Of these 45 finished pipes, we would have 'scrapped' 8 or so (and at the earliest stage possible) as we did not want to take one 'all the way through' production only to scrap it at the end. Say 20 or so would have been Tilsheads roughly 50% Natural and 50% dark, say 6 'S' grades 14 'P' grades, 3 'B' grades, 1 or 2 'G' grades. On another day, we may have 1 or 2 Bs, 1 G and an E or an X. Something like that anyway. There would be times when we were 'on a run'. The area where they were digging briar was far away from any footpaths, so the briar was not subjected to its branches being broken off for the inhabitants' firewood as they passed by. This 'branch-breaking' causes stress to the Xylem tissues/'veins' (as Pete explained earlier) and causes distortions, stress cracks in the burl etc. 'On a run' it has been known to yield 2 or 3 XX, 2 X, 4 Es, 5Gs, 5 Bs, 6 Ps and 2 S grades a day.

—-

What we see as lovingly made works of art, were daily attempts at the little Upshall factory to try to see how many of the top grade of “best pipes” they could run per day.

Every good quality side by side shotgun I own is an Anson and Deeley type copy of a Holland and Holland box lock. Best guns are not really quite as trouble free as box locks but today Holland and Holland still makes a Royal quality side lock at 120,000 pounds Sterling plus VAT.

Traditionally a London Best was supposed to have a thousand hours of skilled labor in it, but thanks to modern factory methods I’d guess that is considerably less today.

Holland & Holland

Holland & Holland is the very hallmark of fine British gunmaking and shooting.

hollandandholland.com

It’s not quite fair to compare a Lee Star Grade to a Yugo.

Even a lowly dollar Briarlee came from the same bag of briar as a Five Star.

I fancy a Lee was a post war Packard Super Clipper.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/pleasure-craft-1946-packard-super-clipper-eight

Not a Rolls Rolls Silver Wraith, but Packard made 46,000 Packards in 1946 and Rolls made less than 2.000 Silver Wraiths in about a dozen years.

Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Briar Lee]

My Tishead arrived today and it’s almost new, beautifully made, and huge!

This might be the best bargain I’ve ever had for the dollar spent.

$75 is a steal for this pipe.

 

[Commander McBragg]

@Briar Lee im glad you took my lead and got a great deal!

 

[Briar Lee]

@Briar Lee im glad you took my lead and got a great deal!

This thing is bigger than a Nording Freehand I bought last year. It’s as large as my largest Marxman Jumbo, which is a huge pipe.

It’s among my largest pipes, and I have a lot of big pipes I sit around of evening and smoke.

A true jumbo pipe, is worth $100 in good condition.

I don’t walk around smoking pipes that are this large. These are for sitting here being the Lord of the Manor.

Today I had my youngest son kick off some enormous tires my Amish renter will use to make a cattle waterer, by a pond I’m having dug.



We’ll have to dedicate it this November during deer season while I use my huge Tilshead to accentuate my annual message to the young deer hunters that it is my wish they kill every deer on my lands so that their mothers can drive safely on the roads without fear some deer might dash her and her children into the promised land,,,,too early.

Our ancestors killed every deer in the Ozarks so they could plant crops, and raise families, and here they are back thick as locusts!

Then I inform them I’ll be coming around for a full report the next morning, and I expect every man to do his duty.

This pipe should make me look the part of the Patron of the Hunt.

 

[Briar Lee]

Today I won a Grade B James Upshall.

This is the most expensive pipe I’ve ever bought at $175 delivered.

 

[craig61a]

Today I won a Grade B James Upshall.

This is the most expensive pipe I’ve ever bought at $175 delivered.

View attachment 167974View attachment 167975

This thread has gone off the rails...

But as far as that B goes, I'd say late 1983 to late 1984. Replacement stem. Curiously the grain doesn't seem to merit a "B". B and above (B, G. E. X. XX) have straight fine grain, the finer and tighter the grain the higher the grade. This looks more like a P grade.

Kind of an odd shape for that time period too, although I don't profess to know every shape Barry turned out.

Hopefully it's not Moti'ed...

 

[Briar Lee]

This thread has gone off the rails...

But as far as that B goes, I'd say late 1983 to late 1984. Replacement stem. Curiously the grain doesn't seem to merit a "B". B and above (B, G. E. X. XX) have straight fine grain, the finer and tighter the grain the higher the grade. This looks more like a P grade.

Kind of an odd shape for that time period too, although I don't profess to know every shape Barry turned out.

Hopefully it's not Moti'ed...

Thanks for the information.

What’s the giveaway on the replacement stem, and what is Moti’ed?

Another question, why did the style of craftsmanship change so they can be dated?

Improvements or increased production?

 

[craig61a]

Thanks for the information.

What’s the giveaway on the replacement stem, and what is Moti’ed?

Another question, why did the style of craftsmanship change so they can be dated?

Improvements or increased production?

The photos aren't great, but the stem has no logo, the finish work on the stem is not flush with the shank, and there appears to be a weird divot in the stem.

Moti'ed - After Mordechai Ezrati, who bought the company in 1995. Its been alleged he would take stummels from other manufacturers and stamp them with Upshall markings to charge a higher price point.

Manufacturing was stable from the beginning of the Tilshead pipe company up until 1990, Barry took on the leadership role of the company, and other people got involved in the manufacturing process. Pipes with errors that Barry would never make show up from this period. 1995 - Moti buys the company. All kinds of manufacturing shenanigans take place from this point on. He pretty much just capitalized on the name and turned out lower quality stuff at higher price. At least thats my understanding.

 

[ssjones]

The photos aren't great, but the stem has no logo, the finish work on the stem is not flush with the shank, and there appears to be a weird divot in the stem.

Moti'ed - After Mordechai Ezrati, who bought the company in 1995. Its been alleged he would take stummels from other manufacturers and stamp them with Upshall markings to charge a higher price point.

Manufacturing was stable from the beginning of the Tilshead pipe company up until 1990, Barry took on the leadership role of the company, and other people got involved in the manufacturing process. Pipes with errors that Barry would never make show up from this period. 1995 - Moti buys the company. All kinds of manufacturing shenanigans take place from this point on. He pretty much just capitalized on the name and turned out lower quality stuff at higher price. At least thats my understanding.

Nicely summarized.

 

[Briar Lee]

Thanks so much for your answers. I learn a couple or three new things on this forum every day.

As the fire crackles and roars at deer camp, my story behind the B grade that should cost over a thousand dollars compared with the Tilshead only worth a fraction is definitely improving.

Mooor de ki…

What a wonderful name for a genuine villain!

And in my pocket will be my Five Star Lee with grain so dense it smokes as cool as asbestos.

As the grades progress, the grain grows tighter, closer together.


And no one should ever doubt the importance of trademarks not just on the stummel, but also the stem.

Old Mordechai would have had to play hell for breakfast before he could ship these as a high grade without getting the stems marked perfectly.



The raw materials cost almost nothing, the same as the scrap value of a Hamilton 992-B pocket watch.

The worth comes, from the touch of the master’s hand.

 

[Alejo R.]

The raw material for the cheapest and most expensive pipe in the maker’s line up is exactly the same.

Certainly the briar comes out graded from the sawmill. There are different qualities. Ebonite also has qualities. Although there is the possibility of buying a pipe of excellent quality at a discounted price because some minor flaws prevented it from carrying a great brand, I suspect that cheap pipes are born to be cheap pipes

 

[burleybreath]

Today I won a Grade B James Upshall.

This is the most expensive pipe I’ve ever bought at $175 delivered.

View attachment 167974View attachment 167975

A shape that has been growing in appeal to me recently. Acorn? Pear? Whatever. Looks incredibly comfortable or something.

 

[Briar Lee]

Certainly the briar comes out graded from the sawmill. There are different qualities. Ebonite also has qualities. Although there is the possibility of buying a pipe of excellent quality at a discounted price because some minor flaws prevented it from carrying a great brand, I suspect that cheap pipes are born to be cheap pipes

To sell the best there is, is quite an art in of itself.

Everything in this old sin cussed world, is born like a blank sheet of paper.

The spot where Tommy Jenkins is the Master of the Hunt is where my father Bruce used to take wealthy men who’d find our place a half mile South of Bug Tussle to see if my father, would consent to sell them a lemon spotted German shorthair pointer bird dog for a price of at least a thousand dollars.


To this day field trials disqualify any German Shorthair that has a trace of orange, they must be liver spotted.

My father knew that wealthy men only cared about a close working, perfect bird dog, one that would come to them, load, hunt, find quail and nothing but quail, be steady to wing and shot, honor other dogs on point, stay on point until found, not jump on the flush but sit and watch for falling birds, retrieve dead and wounded quail, hunt all day, and load in the box on command. They wanted utterly perfect bird dogs.

Those dogs were all born as tiny little puppies, not worth anything.

And sad to say few survived to be sold to rich men for prices from one to five thousand dollars, each.

For himself and me, my Daddy kept two five thousand dollar grade dogs.

They weren’t for sale.

But if you could find our place, and knew that my father might decide a pup would not hunt for you and refuse your money, you might spend a pleasant afternoon with my father, and me, and the daughter of Ma Agee (whose locally famous Ma and Pa series inspired the Beverley Hillibillies) would be sure and serve you dewberry (not blackberry) pie.

You can’t sell a hundred dollar steak unless it sizzles!

Old Mordechai only had to keep up the standards, that others before him established.

 

[Briar Lee]

My James Upshall B Grade arrived today and on first unboxing I was disappointed to see it was nearly the same size as a Lee Small Pear.

I have about a half a dozen or more Lee Small Pears, already. But this pipe was a beautifully made thing, and barely smoked. I fired it up on the way to court.

Very nice luxury goods like a B grade Upshall are worth what they cost. It smoked like heaven, looks like a million dollars, and fits in my suit coat pocket.

This is why we smoke em’