Ebony Phoenix

Usually, fountain pens with urushi and maki-e and chinkin decoration are made of vulcanized hard rubber (ebonite). However, in the Japanese tradition of these decorative techniques, the typical substrate is wood. So, there should be some examples of wooden fountain pens with these forms of decoration. And indeed there are, albeit they are rare. More often than not, the decoration is limited to a coating of transparent lacquer that left the wooden textured exposed.

Around 1970, Sailor made some wooden pens in small and limited editions. The first of them was an ebony pen made in 1968 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Meiji period. Then, some other models followed in ebony and ironwood, and some of them were decorated with maki-e designs. Acording to Masa Sunami (A LAMBROU & M SUNAMI. Fountain Pens of Japan. 2012), over 30 different patterns were produced in several of the traditional techniques of maki-e in Japan: Wajima-nuri, Tsugaru-nuri, and Kimma-nuri.

A Sailor with maki-e decoration.

Such is the case of the pen on display today—a Sailor made of ebony wood with a maki-e motif in the Wajima-nuri style. Wajima is a city in Noto Peninsula (Ishikawa Prefecture) with a long tradition in urushi-related techniques. This dates back to, at least, the 15th century, and nowadays Wajima is the origin of the largest production of urushiware in Japan. In fact, Wajima-nuri says more about the origin of the piece than about the actual technique employed on it.

Wajima hosts the only museum on maki-e works in Japan--the Wajima Museum of Urushi Art.

The pen shows a theme of hôô (鳳凰, phoenix) in taka-maki-e technique (raised, with some relief over the surface). The ebony grain is visible under the transparent urushi. The pen is not signed.

The decoration is simple, but well executed. The pen is not signed.

Pen-wise, this is a cartridge-converter unit with a 23 K gold nib, dated November of 1972. That was at the peak of the gold fever among pen makers in Japan.

The nib is made of 23 K gold. Its nib point is M, or 4 in the Sailor system of nib points of the time. Note the three ink channels of the feed.

These are the dimensions of the pen:
Length closed: 140 mm
Length open: 121 mm
Length posted: 160 mm
Diameter: 13.8 mm
Weight: 30.2 g (dry)
Ink deposit: 1.2 ml (cartridge) / 0.7 ml (converter)

Platinum Platinum pocket pen – Aurora Black

Bruno Taut
Nakano, April 6th, 2016
etiquetas: Sailor, maki-e

Hiroshi's Pilot

At some point in these texts I expressed my views on maki-e pens. There are some models that are well known because they are part of large editions that can be seen on catalogs; but at the same time it is possible to find one-of-a-kind type of maki-e pens.

The later are, more often than not, regular and well known pens covered with an additional later of decoration commissioned to some maki-e artisan. In this regard, as I also pointed out on some other text, there is no such thing as a fake maki-e pen provided the maki-e decoration was actually there.

The following pens are, in essence, two Pilot Custom 67. It was a very interesting model: simple decoration, derived from the anniversary model Custom 65, and a nice selection of nib points, including a music nib. And it also provided a nice canvas for additional decorations.

On this case, the decoration is simply urushi lacquer in black –ro-iro— and in pale red –shu. Both pens carry the artisan’s handle name, Hiroshi (洋), followed by a “kaô” (花押), a stylized signature. The person behind them is Mr. Asakura (朝倉).

The name and the kaô. They provide an additional decorative feature.

The feeds are also coated with urushi lacquer.

How many of these pens were made? I do not know. Did they become part of the Pilot catalog? I do not think so. Are they falsifications? Of course not.

Nothing these pens offer to the history of writing tools in Japan, but the collector values their rarity. Some even love their simple beauty.

Sailor ProGear Senior – Nagasawa Bokkô

Bruno Taut
Over Siberia, November 9th, 2015
etiquetas: Pilot, maki-e, urushi-e, urushi

Post sriptum; June 15th, 2016. These pens were never part of the Pilot catalog. These are customizations made by Mr. Asakura after he retired from Pilot's "kokkôkai". More information on the text "Hiroshi (II)".

Zôhiko

There is a relatively new guy –albeit old as well— in town. Zôhiko is indeed a old company as it was founded in 1661 in Kyoto. Its original business was ivory –the zô in the name actually means elephant—, but with the second generation of owners the market expanded to include maki-e and related techniques and the ivory section ended up disappearing.

But only recently Zôhiko included fountain pens in its catalog of luxury goods. This happened in 2008 by means of an association with the French craftsman Michel Audiard.

More recently, around 2012, a new series of fountain pens were produced. These pens were the initiative of fountain pen entrepreneur Mr. Katayama and Zôhiko, and involved a group of unique Japanese craftsmen.

Raden, on the front, and maki-e.

Body and feed were made by Mr. Momose Yasuaki—an old, now retired, lathe master well known and respected in the Japanese scene. He was also in charge of the filling system, Japanese eyedropper (i. e. with shut-off valve), which is one of his fields of mastery.

Nibs, made of 18 K gold, carry the monogram KMK (with the first K inverted), meaning Katayama-Makino-Kubo. This is a brand name registered by Mr. Katayama. However, these Zôhiko nibs were manufactured by jeweler Mr. Tsukii Masao.

The 18 K gold nib made by Mr Tsukii Masao. Note the monogram KMK engraved on the nib.

The feed is also imprinted with the initials KMK, the registered brand by Mr Katayama.

The final assembly of the pen was made by nibmeister Kubo Kohei, well know to the readers of these Chronicles.

The maki-e decoration, finally, was commissioned to Mr Yamamoto Munori, a Zôhiko regular “in-house” craftsman.

The results of the good work of Mr. Yamamoto Munori.

The final result is an outstanding collection of maki-e decorated pens. But they do not come cheap or in large numbers. Of the raden-decorated unit, only three were made at a cost of JPY 1.200.000. Of the rest, between 4 and 6 units of each were produced. Their price is JPY 600.000, save for the unit with spiral motifs, whose price is JPY 800.000.

JPY 800.000.

Some of the pieces carry a signature, but it simply says Zôhiko.

Now, are they good pens? How do they write? The fact that a jeweler and not a nibmeister crafted the nibs is an unsettling and worrisome detail… But maybe the question is a different one: would anyone ink any of them?

Pilot Custom 823 – Montblanc White Forest

Bruno Taut
Nakano, August 13-14th, 2015
etiquetas: Zôhiko, nibmeister Kubo Kohei, Momose Yasuaki, maki-e, raden

Four New Pens

Chinkin technique consists, basically, in sprinkling some gold powder on an lacquered surface, previously carved with the pattern to be revealed after the whole process was completed. Chinkin is not considered as maki-e—chinkin is not so much painted as it is carved.

A number of pen makers offer this decorative technique on their pens, and those pens are always expensive. A case in point is the Namiki Chinkin Series—a collection of five pens with nibs in sizes 20 and 50, and pen shapes balance and vest (flat ends). Their prices range from JPY 300000 to JPY 700000.

This past January, Pilot –again under the luxury brand Namiki— has made a more affordable series of chinkin-decorated pens. These new four units are flat tops, cartridge-converters and implement size 10 nibs made of 18 K gold. In actual terms, these pens are like those of the Yukari Collection, but with a different body shape. They are not signed with any name in particular, but as made by the “kokkokai”, the guild of maki-e and chinkin craftsmen of Pilot founded by the much respected figure of Gonroku Matsuda.

The four new chinkin pens by Pilot, branded as Namiki.

This is not the signature of any artist. It just says "kokkokai", the group of maki-e and chinkin artisans working for Pilot.

The price of these new arrivals is JPY 100000, plus tax—one third of the cheaper of the older Chinkin Series sized as the Yukari Royale Collection (size 20 nibs). Affordable? Only in relative terms.

One of the pens, uncapped. The length of these pens, when capped, is about 138 mm.

In the meantime, I am writing with a very similar nib (size 10, albeit in 14 K gold) for less than one-fifth of those “affordable” and beautiful chinkin Namiki. The Custom Heritage 912 and the Custom 942 implement 14 K, size 10 nib with 15 different points—a stark contrast with the just three available points of the Namiki Chinkin shown today: F, M and B. In fact, this might simply mean that these overly decorated pen are mostly a jewel with a nib.

A newly-released Namiki Chinkin on the left, together with two other maki-e decorated pen that will be covered on another Chronicle.

Pilot Custom Heritage 912, music nib – Sailor Yama-dori

Bruno Taut
Chuo ward, February 27th, 2015
etiquetas: Pilot, maki-e, mercado, chinkin

Hina Ningyo

March 3rd is, in Japan, Girl’s Day. People celebrate it with altars –the hina ningyo, 雛人形-- showing male and female dolls –the emperor and the empress— dressed in Heian period (794-1185 aD) costumes, and, space permits, a number of attendants and musicians.

The emperors in a Japanese home.

Pen people have an alternative, money permits, according to Pilot.

The hina ningyo I would like to have.

Pilot’s luxury brand Namiki has released a pair of maki-e decorated pens –two Yukari Royale-- with maki-e decoration, made by master Wakabayashi. The price, JPY 700000 (both pens, taxes not included).

Details of the main decorative themes.

These pens, in case you cared, are cartridge-converters (Pilot proprietary) and implement 18 K gold nibs in size 20.

Sailor Profit Naginata togi – Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
Chuo, February 27th, 2015
etiquetas: Japan, Pilot, maki-e

On Maki-e Pens

I think we should face it—maki-e decorated pens are a class on their own, apart from any other. The reason lays on the fact that these pens attract the attention of people more interested on the decoration itself than on the pen. Consequently, details as the nib or the filling system or the quality as writing tool become almost --if not completely-- irrelevant. The pen, then, becomes a jewel with a nib, a cylindrical canvas for the maki-e artisan.

A small cup with maki-e decoration.

So, when the decoration is more important, the whole set of rules under which a stylophile analyzed a pen is turned upside down. Stylophiles greatly value the originality of all the components of the pen—nib and feed must correspond to that particular model, the clip could also have been replaced… And somehow the pen should be known to have existed (this might be tricky at times, but can be applied to the vast majority of pens).

A Platinum maki-e pen from 1930s.

But for the maki-e buff, all that is secondary. The quality of the decoration is paramount. Therefore, is there such a thing as a fake maki-e decorated pen? No, dare I say, as long as the maki-e is there (of course, there exist some maki-e-like decoration using some other less elaborated techniques that hold a lot less value, but they are not maki-e). In fact, this scenario favors the creation of one-of-a-kind pens based on almost any pre-existing model. There are, nowadays as in the past, maki-e artisans who decorated pens on demand, with no knowledge, of course, of the manufacturer.

Two unique maki-e decorated pens. In actual terms, they are Pilot Custom 67.

An obvious side effect of this phenomenon is the proliferation of organized customizations—Pelikan, Parker, Danitrio, Loiminchay… and, of course, the big three, Pilot-Namiki, Platinum-Nakaya, and Sailor. Indeed, this is an easy and safe way to add value to any given pen. As well as a convenient costume to pass as Japanese, which seems another way to add value.

A maki-e decorated Pelikan M1000.

Maybe we all –stylophiles and those fond of maki-e pens-- should remember that maki-e is an old decorative technique that long predates fountain pens. And narrow cylindrical shapes are rarely the most convenient canvas for any purpose.

A bowl for miso soup.

On my side, and this is just a personal option, I insist in thinking that a pen is a pen—and is a pen! And no decoration makes it any better, or any worse, as a pen. Some people, though, do not think like me.

Romillo Essential Black – Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-peki

Bruno Taut
Madrid, December 14th 2014
labels: mercado, Japón, estilofilia, maki-e

On Line Channels

Fellow stylophiles Dan and Eric of FPGeeks have reported the final release of a maki-e Pelikan pen based on the Souverän M1000 model. Well, Eric and Dan reported on the release in the US market as this pen had been in the Japanese market since October. But there are more differences other than the release date. The price in Japan is JPY 210000, tax included, whereas in the US it is about USD 1000 more—USD 3638 (MSRP).

The Japanese brochure of the Pelikan Sunlight in raden costume.

The maki-e Pelikan on display at a stationery shop in Kawasaki, Japan. The picture was taken on November 10th (2012).

It is very hard to understand these variations. It really looks like some –if not all— pen brands had not understood the idea of globalization or, even worse, they wanted a globalized world in just one direction—for them to sell their good anywhere without obstacles but not for the buyer to choose the most convenient conditions.

The medium nib is the only one available on this pen. 300 units were released worldwide. This unit is number 284.

On line mechanisms allow for a quick transmission of information away from the official channels as well as for electronic commerce. Is this so hard to understand?

Pilot Bamboo – Unknown blue ink

Bruno Taut
Madrid, November 30th, 2012
etiquetas: Japón, Estados Unidos, Mercado, Pelikan, metabitácora

Itoya 2012

Itoya is one of the big stationery shops in Tokyo. Its two buildings in Ginza are a Mecca for any lover of stationery goods, including fountain pens, visiting this city.

Itoya's building in 1909

Itoya has recently –opening this past October 3rd—reorganized its sections. Fountain pens are now located on the backstreet building, named K. Itoya 1904 after the foundation of the company in 1904 by Katsutaro Ito, and occupies the first two floors. On the ground floor we see the Montblanc counter, always separated from the rest of pens by imposition of the company, and most pens in price ranges medium and low. The second floor is dedicated to maki-e and urushi fountain pens and to the technical service.

The K.Itoya 1904 building is clearly marked as the fountain pen building, although only two of the seven floors are in fact devoted to these tools.

View of the second floor, dedicated mostly to fountain pens decorated in maki-e and urushi.

This investment in the new organization and this larger space dedicated to sophisticated pens can only mean that the profits derived from upscale writing tools in increasing in the total balance of the company. And foreign visitors might have played an important role in this as there is now a native English-speaker salesman.

Pilot E, manifold nib – Pilot blue-black

Bruno Taut
Shinjuku, October 12th, 2012
Etiquetas: Tokyo, mercado, Japón, papelería, Itoya

Coins

Pilot-Namiki started manufacturing fountain pens with maki-e decoration as early as 1925, just seven years after the foundation of the company. However, the association with Dunhill only started in 1930. These pens, either branded as Pilot or as Dunhill-Namiki, are now objects of desire for many collectors, and their price reflect this demand.


However, not only Pilot made maki-e pen on those years. Sailor copied the idea in 1926 and Platinum followed suit in 1930. Founder Shunichi Nakata commissioned some maki-e artists led by Rosui to create some designs.


Such is the case of today’s pen. It is an eyedropper made of hard rubber (ebonite) from the early 1930s. As is often the case in Japanese pens, it implements a shut-off valve to seal the ink deposit. The nib is a size 5 made of steel and signed by Platinum.


These are its dimensions:
Diameter: 14 mm.
Length capped: 135 mm.
Length open: 117 mm.
Length posted: 162 mm.
Weight (dry): 16.9 g.

The culotte operates the shut-off valve.

Details of the texture and of the coins used as docorative elements. Round coins are relatively new in Japan. Actually, yen (en in Japanese, 円) means circular and describes the new shape of coins.

The maki-e decoration is of the rough volcanic surface style –as described by Masa Sunami— with some old coins as decorative motif. This rough texture is very similar to the stone finish (ishime) currently available in Nakaya pens.

The final result is a very shibui pen—elegant and delicate without being ostentatious.

(Platinum 3776 – Diamine Teal)

Bruno Taut
November 8th, 2011
[etiquetas: Platinum, Sailor, Pilot]

FK-3000P-SKU

Recently, I had the chance to put my hands on a fountain pen with maki-e decoration on the body. It is a Pilot with the very non-descriptive name of FK-3000P-SKU.

The maki-e pen with ornaments in cherry tree flowers, sakura. Also known as FK-3000P-SKU.

This pen is on the cheap side among those maki-e pens of the company. It is equipped with a size 5 14-K gold nib, and only two points are available: F and M. The price in Japan, JPY 30000.

One of the cherry flowers adorning the pen.

Indeed a nice pen whose only fault, other than the price, is the very limited selection of nibs. The reasons not to offer any of the other nibs Pilot has in that size is beyond my understanding. The looks are great, delicate and quite discreet despite the often striking contrast between red and black. But at the same time, this pen gives the impression of being a very delicate object. It is a pen to grab with white cotton gloves to prevent any scratch. In this regard, I wonder whether it is a writing utensil or a jewel to exhibit.

The cap has a velvety material inside to avoid scratching the barrel when posting the pen.

Functionally, this maki-e pen is almost identical to the more modest model the Custom 74. Their dimensions are the same, and weight-wise, the maki-e is four grams lighter than the twenty-two of the Custom.

The CON-70 attached to the Custom 74 section (with a golden ring) had to be purchased separately.

The difference in price between them is JPY 20000. JPY 20000 for the maki-e decoration. Ah! And for the converter CON-70 included with it, and not with the Custom 74. And the cheaper pen can be ordered with a selection of eleven different nibs, some of which are a lot more interesting than the plain F and M.

On the left, the rather rigid F nib of the maki-e pen. On the right, the springy soft-fine nib of the Custom 74. There is no problem whatsoever in interchanging them, but Pilot does not offer the SF nib on the maki-e pen.

This detail is a strong argument to conclude that the FK-3000P-SKU is more of a jewel than of a pen.

(Pilot Custom 74 with music nib – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, October 11th, 2010)
[labels: Pilot]