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Maki Maki-e Long Cigar Fountain Pen Gold Gradation | ||
We were fortunate enough to acquire one long version of the Cyprus Gold Gradation fountain pen. Without a clip, its simple and elegant design is uninterrupted. "Maki" is the general name for cedar and cypress in Japanese. Cypress keeps its green leaves through out the year even when it snows, and in spring young leaves sprout quickly. This motif is loved by the Japanese people and is a reminder of their ability to endure the tough times patiently as well as to be resilient in times of set-backs. |
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| "Ji-maki" (undercoating) is done with both gold powder and seashell powder creating a luminous base for the next layer. The "Maki" (Japanese cypress) is hand painted with gold powder and colored urushi lacquer, emphasizing the movement. on the next layer the gold powder base "Tsuke-gaki" and seashell powder "Urushi" are applied. | ||
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| Where the gold powder is to be sprinkled, it is painted with thick urushi lacquer then dusted with the gold powder. After hardening, colored urushi lacquer is applied and gold powder is polished to a shine. Then the hand painting is done and gold powder is sprinkled again, it is painted with black, white, and blue urushi. | ||
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| The urushi painting has to be done in exactly the correct thickness, this is the most important part of the urushi painting method. Otherwise it will not dry enough for the all of the layers to be revealed. | ||
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| A final process including polishing is repeated three times. It is the Suri-urushi and is performed on the whole fountain pen surface. Raw urushi lacquer is applied and wiped off immediately removing microscopic scratches. This is a complicated process because the urushi must be wiped down completely to avoid darkening. If performed incorrectly, it is easy to ruin the effect of the wonderful gold gradation. See below for the subtle change from black at the base of the barrel on the left to brilliant gold to the right. Yes, this is gold. | ||
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When all is done, the urushi lacquer surface is both beautiful and durable. This is a pen to last a lifetime or more. These pens honor the passage of time. We
provide a Platinum converter used to fill this pen with ink in either the simple
form or the painted "goldfish" design for an additional $25. Each of these nibs is suitable for our customization to extra flexible. The medium and broad tip can be customized by us into cursive italic, stub or oblique points. |
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| The Maki-e fountain pen is the perfect collaboration of Maki-e artists in Wajima and fountain pen specialists of Nakaya with very detailed artwork which becomes more and more beautiful, the longer you use it. Because of the many layers, wear only makes this pen more precious. | ||
Tip sizes as reported by Nakaya: Super Extra
Fine, 0.18 to 0.24mm. Especially suited for fine numbers and characters, suitable
for bookkeeping. Please see our own tipping size page for comparison with other nib tip sizes. |
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For an additional $80.00 for the single tone and $125 for the two-tone we can provide the double slit music nib. It is much like a stub with a generous ink delivery. See the Nakaya nibs page for more details. | ||
The
heavy decorative rice paper, simple solid softwood shipping box and fabric pouch
make a lovely presentation for Nakaya Urushi pens. Sensible and elegant packaging
have been a hallmark of Nakaya. | ||
Our
Price: $1250.00 |
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