In late 1997, Mordechai “Moty” Ezrati, an Israeli millionaire pipe enthusiast, purchased the English pipe company, James Upshall, that had been in receivership for a £80,000 debt. Ezrati told media he wanted to save the venerable pipe brand. However, Ezrati has been criticized for buying old Astley (Jermyn Street, London, now defunct), cheap Comoy and Charatans, sanding and re-stamping them as Upshall estate pipes. Because Ezrati owns the Upshall name he has the legal right to this, but the practice is highly questionable at best, scandalously deceptive and possibly criminally culpable at worst.
As much as I hoped these accusations were false, at least one pipe Ezrati offered for sale substantiates the accusation. I found a bent apple with a saddle bit that Ezrati offered on eBay, transaction no. 401071663413, for the “Buy It Now” price of ₤224.99 under the heading, “1982 JAMES UPSHALL HIGH GRADE B FREEHAND FULL BENT NEW NO RESERVE.” The “James Upshall” cartouche on the left side along with the grade B, FH (freehand) and size 4 codes were obviously newly engraved. What gave the pipe away as a bogus, recently refinished pipe originally made by another manufacturer was the JU in a circle logo on the top of the stem and the engraved cartouche and other information on the shank. Upshall did not begin applying the circled JU logo to its stems until 1996, fourteen years after the purported date of this pipe’s manufacture. Additionally, in 1982 the shank cartouche bearing the Upshall name was stamped, not engraved. Mr. Ezrati cannot escape culpability for materially misrepresenting the pipe’s date of manufacture or its provenance in this instance because his name and address in Brenchley, Kent, were printed right in the auction notice. When purchasing Upshall pipes, caveat emptor. Those that Ezrati or “jamesupshallpipeco” offer for sale by should be entirely avoided.
It is particularly sad is that the pipes are being counterfeited by the manufacturer. I can well imagine Ezrati defending himself by claiming that his company is the putative victim, that Upshall cannot possibly counterfeit its own pipes and that no one is harmed. He is wrong. The provenance claims are lies and he is materially misleading the buying public.
