James Upshall Pipes - A Discussion

[seadog]

I'm posting some photo's of an outstanding James Upshall pipe that a friend of mine owns. I believe this Upshall may be from the "original" period (1978 - 1988)as the shank is stamped with a "G", and have briefly discussed it with Ken Barnes via private message. I also told him that I'd be posting photo's of this pipe for him to examine, and groan as I did, when he see's what appears to me to be......the fingerprints of an amateur. The work in question is the shank, tenon and stem. The stem fit's poorly into the shank, and both are cut at a slight angle. Then there's the question of the tenon/stem. I have seen this type of tenon/stem before, where the tenon is pressed into the shank and the stem is countersunk to fit over the tenon, but it's fairly uncommon. You can also see where the stem has been sanded in an attempt to match the angle of the shank.

 

[kenbarnes]

I hope a book does come out of all this. Elpfeife, now that is a really fantastic idea, a really tempting idea! Hmmmmmm.

 

[kenbarnes]

reply to seadog. Wow, what happened? I am very open-minded when it comes to replacing a different mouthpiece on an Upshall. I am sure that many collectors would agree with me when I say that Charatan produced the better bowls and Dunhill produced a far better mouthpiece. Unfortunatley for me, by the time I was doing my apprenticeship at Charatans in the mid seventies, the fitting and frazing of all Charatan pipes were done at the Grosvenor Pipe Factory in Georgiana Street,Camden Town,London NW1. This is where all the bowls were fitted irrespective of the quality. This factory 'housed' all the Ben Wade machinery when it was moved from Leeds. I did work at Georgiana Street for a month or so under the supervision of John Marshall I seem to remember. Hand cuts were quite a rare item at Charatan, reserved only for the Coronation, Achievement, Royal Achievement & Summa Cum Laude grades. I have seen some Upshalls where Collectors wanted a really beautiful handcut fitted to a lovely James Upshall bowl. I know that georged has fitted a beautiful hand cut on a high grade Upshall for a collector as has Jess Chonowitsch and I say 'my dream has come true and I didn't need to do anything to make it happen' -that's what I always wanted, but it wasn't to be. This one, is slightly different. My heart goes out to the person who attempted to fit a new mouthpiece on this beautiful'G' grade. I am wondering whether he thought 'lets give this classic English pipe some pizzazz'? I don't think he intended to slope the face of the shank-did he? I am wondering how many sleepless nights he had prior to the customer coming back to pick up his pipe. I think georged would be able to shed more light on this dilemma. Incidentally, this James Upshall 'G' grade is from 1981-1982 and was shaped and turned by Barry Jones and with a stamped rather than engraved James Upshall on the shank as well as a stamped letter 'G'.

 

[seadog]

Mr Barnes - Thank you for your reply. I find it mind-boggling that anyone with even a rudimentary knowledge of pipes and pipe makers would even dream of altering a beautiful & rare pipe like the James Upshall. That's why, at least to me, it has the fingerprints of a rank amateur on it. Oh, and I also somehow forgot one other photo showing the fit between the stem and shank.....if you can call it a "fit." I'm at a loss for words even trying to justify what was done to this pipe.

 

[kenbarnes]

I would really like georged to comment on this piece. I do know that the original length of the shank was longer, possibly by as much as an inch or longer still.By the way seadog, my name is Ken!

 

[seadog]

Ken - Thanks for the info. And that was my other fear, that the shank had been shortened by how close the Upshall stamping was to the end of the shank.....great.

BTW......I have a tendency to be rather formal, so Ken it is. And my name is Darryl. SeaDog was a nickname I acquired when I was in the Navy....LOL.

 

[seadog]

Kem - I sent georged a message, asked if he'd be kind enough to stop by and take a look.

 

[seadog]

Sorry.....Ken

 

[ssjones]

I'm sure that George will have a remedy for that beauty. Who would do that to a G grade James Upshall, yikes!

 

[jpmcwjr]

OMG! The shank cut isn't even square! (Unless an artifact of the image/camera)

 

[seadog]

Wonderful, ain't it.

 

[georged]

Well. The situation is only semi-recoverable, I'm afraid. The fix would involve further shortening the shank to square, which would require cutting into the "James Upshall" stamp by a millimeter or so. Major bummer.
The good news is except for that, the pipe would look good and be a solid smoker, which is better than the situation now.
Wish I had better news.

 

[seadog]

George, thanks for the reply. This pipe actually belongs to a friend of mine, who came about it in a large lot of high-end estate pipes. I do pipe restorations, but not repair. I wish I could, but as I live in an apartment, my workspace is extremely limited. Is this the type of work you do? If so, I'd appreciate it if you could message me with details. My friends original plan was to sell it, and I'd like to pass on some details to him. As far as I'm concerned, whether he sells it or not, this beautiful Upshall has to be fixed.....thanks.

 

[pipesmokingtom]

With selling it in mind, I wonder which solution has the least desirable effect on the value - having a worse than poor fitment between the shank and stem or sacrificing some of the nomenclature for a proper alignment. Yeesh. I wish your friend the best of luck on that one.

 

[seadog]

Tom - the way I look at it, is that in it's current condition some one has rendered a rare & valuable pipe pretty much worthless. Fixing it properly will lessen it's value, but will at lest make it an affordable way for some one to purchase a high end pipe. That being said, if it was mine, I'd get it fixed and keep it.

 

[georged]

This pipe actually belongs to a friend of mine, who came about it in a large lot of high-end estate pipes. I do pipe restorations, but not repair. I wish I could, but as I live in an apartment, my workspace is extremely limited.

10-4. Messing with the mechanical side of repair work requires a surprising amount of disproportionately large tools. a.k.a. "I feel your pain" :?

Is this the type of work you do? My friends original plan was to sell it, and I'd like to pass on some details to him. As far as I'm concerned, whether he sells it or not, this beautiful Upshall has to be fixed.....thanks.

Yes, I do such fixes. If the pipe is to be sold, though, being "worth it" would be too close to call. Not because the fix is particularly difficult or expensive (with the proper tools), but because significantly modified pipes attract virtually no interest from collectors. If it was his grandfather's pipe or something, where sentimental value was high, it would be a no-brainer. In this case, a proper fix would be as likely to lose your friend money or break even than to come out ahead.
Again, I wish I had better news.

 

[seadog]

Thanks George. Either way I knew selling the Upshall as a collectible was pretty much a moot point. Funny thing (I guess you can call it funny) is that the lot contained 50 pipes...Dunhill Root & Shell brairs, as well as some of the most beautiful Family Era Ben Wade freehands I've ever seen.....and this James Upshall. The only one with "issues". I'll be doing the restorations on these pipes over the next couple of weeks. I might ask him for the Upshall. If I do, I'll let you know, as I'd keep it.

 

[seadog]

Correction....I meant to say Ben Wade Family Era and Freehand pipes.

 

[seadog]

George - Ken......I bought that beautiful Upshall. Decided to trade some of the restoration work I'm doing for my friend in return for the Upshall. I know the pipe is slightly "handicapped", but I just couldn't see that Upshall possibly being sold to someone who didn't care or appreciate it. So I will have it put back into proper shape, and if George can do it, then so be it. So it'll be my Upshall, and I'll smoke it and take care of it in a proper manner.

On a side note, as I had mentioned previously, this same friend has a lot of 50 high-end pipes, all Dunhill's and Ben Wade's. Received the first box of 10 pipes yesterday....5 Dunhill's & 5 Ben Wade Danish free hands. The Ben Wade's are drop-dead gorgeous, and will have to post a few photo's when I've done one or two. Anyway, I know this is an Upshall thread, but I figured since I'm here I might as well post photo's of the first Dunhill I've ever restored/refinished. I think it came pretty good. It's a Dunhill 475 Shell.

 

[tarheel1]

My first Upshall pipes arrived today. I am pretty sure I will sell the bent bulldog. It feels just a bit too small for a group 5. The P grade group 6 bent billiard is perfect size.