Scored this James Upshall/Barry Jones made Astley's carved billiard. Upshall didn't make any rusticated pipes until a few trial pieces in 1988 but Barry made them more regularly in the mid 1990s when I believe this pipe was made. I was surprised how accomplished Barry's rusticating technique was but he'd actually learned and perfected it at Charatan (who made some part carved pipes).

Astleys stamped their nomenclature on pipes made by famous makers but their main supply of high grades came from Upshall from 1980 through the 1990s. Some pipes with their name are ordinary but this is one of the nice ones.


After Barry had carved the pipe he'd put it back on the lathe and trim the top inside of the bowl to eliminate carving that had edged into the bowl. You can see that the chamber widens slightly toward the rim and the wall thickness is slightly uneven and a little thinner.