Special little Sailor Pen

[Tenebris Equum]

I have been long waiting for this one and finally the beauty has landed.


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[G.D.BeanCounter]

That is a beauty! Congrats

[Tenebris Equum]

Originally Posted by G.D.BeanCounter

That is a beauty! Congrats

Cheers mate.

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[Bisquitlips]

I have one of these and any photos do not come close to capturing their beauty! Congratulations!

[jar]

Very nice. I have a small Sailor 1911 maki-e that I cherish as well.

[Tenebris Equum]

Originally Posted by Bisquitlips

I have one of these and any photos do not come close to capturing their beauty! Congratulations!

Is your one a medium or broad nib?

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[1William]

Congratulations.

[pickettt]

Incredible.

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by Tenebris Equum

Is your one a medium or broad nib?

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Medium.

[Tenebris Equum]

Originally Posted by Bisquitlips

Medium.

How does it write? I feel like mine is slightly scratchy compared to my jowo medium nibs. Maybe I should have opted for a broad as its more of a western medium.

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[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by Tenebris Equum

How does it write? I feel like mine is slightly scratchy compared to my jowo medium nibs. Maybe I should have opted for a broad as its more of a western medium.

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

I have not inked it up.

[Burlington]

How beautiful - a true work of art

[Bisquitlips]

Here is some more information on this pen.


Sailor 2010 Raden Maki-e Rare Never For Sale "Sakura Nagare" FP Box Set

This pure gold and raden (mother of pearl) maki-e pen for sale is a modern classic. Recreations sell for $1500+. However, the originals were never made for sale. The story behind its origin is moving. And its design is steeped in Japanese culture.

The pen comes mint in a specially marked paulownia box, with all its papers and its own custom filled ink bottle. An entire page was dedicated to this pen in the book "Fountain Pens of Japan" by Lambrou and Sunami. The barrel is completely covered in multiple layers of gold powder and raden. They then used generous amounts of urushi to protect the materials and give the design a smooth gloss finish. It's Incredible workmanship.

As you will see below, government financing for this pen offset the cost to make it. As mentioned, new versions and equivalents from other makers retail for over $1500 today.

THE PEN'S ORIGIN- This Sakura Nagare fountain pen was commissioned by the Japanese Public Foundation for Peace and Consolation in 2009. It was made to pay respect to veterans deployed overseas near the end of WWII, who were denied military pension. In 2009, these qualified veterans were offered a choice of gifts as part of their recognition. This pen was one of the choices. The pen was made in 2010, after being chosen. As a result, only a select number were made.

Veteran's recognition of course is not new. But the qualification for this pen and the design itself reveals a deeper meaning.

THE PEN'S DESIGN- The design of this pen depicts Japanese cherry blossoms "Sakura" floating down a river "Nagare" in spring time. The riverside is made of powered gold. The river and cherry blossoms are made from hand-laid mother of pearl typically called Raden. The design is finished with multiple layers of pure urushi lacquer. The entire process took 8 months to complete incorporating a number of complex maki-e techniques.

This design was inspired by kyokusui-no-en (winding stream party), a 1000-year-old Japanese game. In this game, the first person writes a poem and floats a cup of sake down the stream. The next person, must write a poem of their own before the cup reaches them. Once it does, they drink in honor of participation and float a refilled cup of sake to the next person and the game is continued. After everyone has played the game, they share their poems in friendly competition.

On this pen, the Japanese cherry blossom represents both the floating sake and the beauty of Japan in spring. It symbolizes the beauty of culture and life the young are deprived of in war. Often with no recognition of what was asked of them and what was lost.

With the beauty of this pen's craftsmanship and it's deeper meaning, it easy to see why it's a modern classic. It's in a very special category of cultural artworks. One you can enjoy no matter your background or nationality. Its beauty is universal.


A few pictures of the one in my collection:

[Tenebris Equum]

Wow! Thank you for that, I wasn't aware of the story and history of this pen. I just fell in love with it and now even more so. The original does look amazingly beautiful too.

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[Texex]

When I first clicked on this link I thought yawn, a pen thread (not a pen guy). But after reading the history you wrote I googled the pen. Thanks for teaching me something new. Very cool and beautiful pen.

Originally Posted by Bisquitlips

Here is some more information on this pen.


Sailor 2010 Raden Maki-e Rare Never For Sale "Sakura Nagare" FP Box Set

This pure gold and raden (mother of pearl) maki-e pen for sale is a modern classic. Recreations sell for $1500+. However, the originals were never made for sale. The story behind its origin is moving. And its design is steeped in Japanese culture.

The pen comes mint in a specially marked paulownia box, with all its papers and its own custom filled ink bottle. An entire page was dedicated to this pen in the book "Fountain Pens of Japan" by Lambrou and Sunami. The barrel is completely covered in multiple layers of gold powder and raden. They then used generous amounts of urushi to protect the materials and give the design a smooth gloss finish. It's Incredible workmanship.

As you will see below, government financing for this pen offset the cost to make it. As mentioned, new versions and equivalents from other makers retail for over $1500 today.

THE PEN'S ORIGIN- This Sakura Nagare fountain pen was commissioned by the Japanese Public Foundation for Peace and Consolation in 2009. It was made to pay respect to veterans deployed overseas near the end of WWII, who were denied military pension. In 2009, these qualified veterans were offered a choice of gifts as part of their recognition. This pen was one of the choices. The pen was made in 2010, after being chosen. As a result, only a select number were made.

Veteran's recognition of course is not new. But the qualification for this pen and the design itself reveals a deeper meaning.

THE PEN'S DESIGN- The design of this pen depicts Japanese cherry blossoms "Sakura" floating down a river "Nagare" in spring time. The riverside is made of powered gold. The river and cherry blossoms are made from hand-laid mother of pearl typically called Raden. The design is finished with multiple layers of pure urushi lacquer. The entire process took 8 months to complete incorporating a number of complex maki-e techniques.

This design was inspired by kyokusui-no-en (winding stream party), a 1000-year-old Japanese game. In this game, the first person writes a poem and floats a cup of sake down the stream. The next person, must write a poem of their own before the cup reaches them. Once it does, they drink in honor of participation and float a refilled cup of sake to the next person and the game is continued. After everyone has played the game, they share their poems in friendly competition.

On this pen, the Japanese cherry blossom represents both the floating sake and the beauty of Japan in spring. It symbolizes the beauty of culture and life the young are deprived of in war. Often with no recognition of what was asked of them and what was lost.

With the beauty of this pen's craftsmanship and it's deeper meaning, it easy to see why it's a modern classic. It's in a very special category of cultural artworks. One you can enjoy no matter your background or nationality. Its beauty is universal.


A few pictures of the one in my collection:

[Bisquitlips]

Originally Posted by Texex

When I first clicked on this link I thought yawn, a pen thread (not a pen guy). But after reading the history you wrote I googled the pen. Thanks for teaching me something new. Very cool and beautiful pen.

The Japanese rarely do anything meaningful in their art without it being inspired by their lore and history. I am sure that Jar could expound on this. The Urishi / Maki-e pens are full of this symbolism and even poetry.

I have a Danitrio fountain pen that centers on Japanes poetry. It has a deep purple Urushi finish with the poetry in gold. Its name is 100 Poems by 100 Poets. Here is its story.



Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, also called Hyakunin Isshu, is an anthology of 100 poems by 100 different poets. The poems are all "waka" (now called "tanka"). Waka are five-line poems of 31 syllables, arranged as 5, 7, 5, 7, 7.

The waka represented in Hyakunin Isshu were court poetry, which almost exclusively used the waka format from the earliest days of Japanese poetry until the seventeen-syllable haiku came into prominence in the seventeenth century.

Hyakunin Isshu is said to have been compiled by the famous thirteenth-century critic and poet Fujiwara no Sadaie (also known as Teika), though his son Fujiwara no Tameie mayhave had a hand in revising the collection. Teika also compiled a waka anthology called Hyakunin Shuka (Superior Poems of Our Time), which shares many of the same poems as Hyakunin Isshu.

The 100 poems of Hyakunin Isshu are in rough chronological order from the seventh through the thirteenth centuries. The most famous poets through the late Heian period in Japan are represented.

Hyakunin Isshu has had immense influence in Japan. In Donald Keene's phrase, the poems have "constituted the basic knowledge of Japanese poetry for most people from the early Tokugawa period until very recent imes....This meant, in a real sense, that Teika was the arbiter of the poetic tastes of most Japanese even as late as the twentieth century."

(Seeds in the Heart, p. 674; see Sources for full citation.) The influence of Hyakunin Isshu was particularly extended through the card game based on the collection, called uta karuta, played especially at New Year's.

Among foreign critics and translators there have been differing opinions about the value of Hyakunin Isshu. Arthur Waley thought that the collection "is so selected as to display the least pleasing features of Japanese poetry. Artificialities of every kind abound." (Japanese Poetry, The 'Uta' [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1919], p. 7.) Kenneth Rexroth is more temperate: "[It] is a very uneven collection. It contains some of the most mannered poetry of classical Japan, but it also contains some of the best." (One Hundred Poems, p. xviii.)

Donald Keene offers this summary: "It can hardly be pretended that all the poems deserve the immortality Teika bestowed on them, but many are fine poems, and his choices do no harm to his reputation as a critic." (Seeds, p. 674.)

[Bisquitlips]

And here is another Danitrio that extols the joys of the beach and ocean under a blue sky.

[jar]

The connection between maki-e and folklore as well as traditional symbolism is deep, pervasive and ubiquitous.

Here is a short tale about how I was first exposed to the culture.

And as long as we are posting PRON ...

here is a small size Sailor 1911 maki-e fountain pen by the Master Katsunobu Nishihara. It is one of ten each showing two Siamese Fight Fish, one on the cap, one on the barrel, as they circle in their individual bowls displaying to the other.



a Danitrio featuring two Megatame (a Tame is the small colon shaped object; two tame create the Yin-Yang symbol and a Megatame is three Tame arranged as the spokes of a wheel. An example used today of the Megatame is the US Department of Transportations logo.)