by Steve Laug

The next pipe on the table is a Peterson Rusticated Meerschaum Bulldog. We picked the pipe up from a seller in Ogden, Utah, USA on 12/21/2024. Probably the fact that it is a Tilshead Hand Made caught our eye on this one. It is stamped on the left side of the shank and reads Tilshead [over] England. On the right side it is stamped Made by Hand. It is a nice looking Dublin that was made by James Upshall company. The finish is a bit dull and dirty with dust and grime. The bowl has a light cake and the rim top has some darkening and some possible damage around the inner edge on the back. The stem is oxidized, calcified and has tooth chatter and light tooth marks on both sides near the button. There is no logo stamp on the stem. The surface of the button looks very good on both sides. Jeff took some photos of the pipe to show the general condition of the pipe before he started his clean up. Jeff took photos of the rim top and stem to show the general condition of the pipe. The bowl is lightly caked and the rim top looks good. The inner edge of the bowl has some possible burn damage and darkening toward the back of the bowl. The stem is oxidized, calcified and has tooth chatter and tooth marks on the top and underside near the button. Jeff took photos of the bowl sides and heel to show the condition of the smooth finish around this bowl. The grain is quite beautiful and it is a nice looking pipe. He took photos of the stamping on the shank sides and the top of the stem. It is clear and readable as noted above.Before I started my work on the pipe I looked up Tilshead Pipes on Pipephil’s site to see what they had in terms of information (http://www.pipephil.eu/logos/en/logo-t6.html).I looked up Tilshead on Pipedia and it sent me to the listing for Upshall pipes as they also made Tilshead (https://pipedia.org/wiki/James_Upshall). I read through the article and found the section on Grading & Sizing Information really helpful. I have included that below. I have highlighted the pertinent text in red below.

James Upshall pipes are graded by various finishes, i.e. bark, sandblast, black dress and smooth etc. Then by cross grain, flame grain, straight grain and, last but not least, the perfect high grade, which consists of dense straight grain to the bowl and shank. The latter being extremely rare. In addition, the price varies according to group size, i.e. from 3-4-5-6 cm high approximately Extra Large. We also have the Empire Series which are basically the giant size, individually hand crafted pipes which come in all finishes and categories of grain. All our pipes are individually hand carved from the highest quality, naturally dried Greek briar. In order to simplify our grading system, let me divide our pipes into 4 basic categories.

1. It begins with the Tilshead pipe, which smokes every bit as good as the James Upshall but has a slight imperfection in the briar. In the same category price wise you will find the James Upshall Bark and Sandblast finish pipes, which fill and smoke as well as the high grades.
2. In this category we have the best “root quality” which means that the grain is either cross, flame or straight, which is very much apparent through the transparent differing color finishes. This group will qualify as the “S”- Mahogany Red, “A” – Chestnut Tan and “P” – Walnut. The latter having the straighter grain.
3. Here you have only straight grain, high grade pipes, which run from the “B”, “G”, “E”, “X” and “XX”. The latter will be the supreme high grade. Considering the straightness of the grain the latter category is also the rarest. Usually no more than 1% of the production will qualify.
4. Lastly, we have the Empire Series. These are basically Limited Edition gigantic individually hand crafted pieces, which again are extremely rare due to the scarcity of large, superior briar blocks.

Armed with that information I turned my attention to the pipe itself. Jeff had cleaned the pipe with his usual penchant for thoroughness that I really appreciate. He reamed it with a PipNet pipe reamer and cleaned up the reaming with a Savinelli Fitsall Pipe Knife. He scrubbed out the internals with alcohol, pipe cleaners, shank brushes and cotton swabs until the pipe was clean. He scrubbed the exterior of the bowl with undiluted Murphy’s Oil Soap and a tooth brush to remove the grime and grit on the briar and the lava on the rim top. The finish looks very good with good looking grain around the bowl and shank. Jeff soaked the stem in Briarville’s Pipe Stem Deoxidizer to remove the oxidation on the rubber. When the pipe arrived here in Vancouver for the second stop of its restoration tour it looked very good. I took photos before I started my part of the work. I took close up photos of the bowl and rim top as well as the stem. You can see the condition of the rim top and bowl in the first photo. Jeff was able to remove all of the tar and oils on the top and the edges of the bowl. It looked very good. The stem had some remaining oxidation and some light tooth chatter on both sides ahead of the button.I took photos of the stamping on the shank sides to show the condition is after the clean up. The stamping was clear and readable as noted above. I removed the stem and took a photo to show the parts of the pipe. It is a beauty.I polished the briar with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped down the bowl with a damp cloth to remove the sanding debris and dust. The bowl began to look amazing. I worked some Before & After Restoration Balm into the surface of the briar with my fingertips to clean, enliven and protect it. I let the balm sit for a little while and then buffed with a cotton cloth to raise the shine. The following photos show the bowl at this point in the restoration process. I am very happy with the results. I sanded the stem with 320-3500 grit sanding pads. I wiped the stem down with an Obsidian Oil cloth after each sanding pad. The tooth marks were blended in quite well.I polished the stem with micromesh sanding pads – wet sanding with 1500-12000 grit sanding pads. I wiped it down after each sanding pad Obsidian Oil. I finished by polishing it with Before & After Pipe Stem Polish both fine and extra Fine and then wiped it down with a final coat of Obsidian Oil. This is a beautiful James Upshall Made Tilshead England Made By Hand Dublin with a vulcanite tapered stem. It has a great look and feel. The shape of the bowl, the beveled rim top and the cut of the briar work well to highlight the grain around the bowl sides. I polished stem and the bowl with Blue Diamond polish on the buffing wheel. I gave the bowl and the stem multiple coats of carnauba wax. I buffed the pipe with a clean buffing pad to raise the shine. I hand buffed it with a microfiber cloth to deepen the shine. The Tilshead England Dublin polished up pretty nicely. The grain took on life with the buffing. The rich stains work well with the polished vulcanite stem. The finished pipe has a rich look that is quite catching. Have a look at it with the photos below. The shape, finish and flow of the pipe and stem are very well done. The dimensions are Length: 6 inches, Height: 2 ¼ inches, Outside diameter of the bowl: 1 ½ inches, Chamber diameter: ¾ of an inch. The weight of the pipe is 1.76 ounces/50 grams. It is a beautiful pipe. I will be putting it on the rebornpipes store shortly in the British Pipemakers Section if you are interested in adding it to your collection. Thanks for walking with me through the restoration.