Nakaya
Nakaya Long Cigar Red Bird Shinshin Suzaku
Nakaya Long Cigar Red Bird Shinshin Suzaku
The Suzaku or Red Bird, along with the related Dragon, Turtle, and Tiger, is one of the major constellations in Chinese representations of the night sky. Embodying the Taoist concept of the fire element, the Red Bird can also represent the direction South and the season of summer. The Nakaya Long Cigar Red Bird Shinshin Suzaku is realized using the tame-sukashi technique.
In Tame-Sukashi technique, layers of clear, smooth Urushi lacquer are applied over a painted motif - it is similar to Tame-Nuri technique, in which lacquer is applied over a solid color. The underlying motif in Tame-Sukashi will become more promiment over time as the Urushi lacquer ages and becomes more transparent.
The tame-sukashi technique gives the finished surface of this pen a smooth, clear urushi finish.
As the urushi lacquer matures, the under-image of the Red Bird will grow even more prominent. This is truly a pen that will grow more interesting as it is used.
Note how Nakaya's artists have captured the dynamic shape of this bird as it winds diagonally around the cap and barrel of the pen.
See also the Ascending Dragon fountain pen, a companion pen to this one. We love the way the motif also emerges from the lacquer body in time.
""The South"" is expressed in Tenkoku (ancient Chinese stamp characters from three thousand years ago) on the gripping section.
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.
Couldn't load pickup availability
Customization Guide
Stub
 
|
Above is the same size nib after a regrind to Stub. A regrind to Stub is often a good place to start for your first customization. Â A Stub nib provides broad down-strokes and narrow cross-strokes while writing, and is less position-sensitive on the paper than the crisper and slightly more demanding cursive italic.
|
Cursive Italic
 
|
More demanding, but also providing crisper edges and more line-width variation, is the very popular customization to Cursive Italic. This also provides broad down-strokes and narrow cross-strokes, but is also more position-sensitive in terms of how the pen is held and requires more skill on the part of the user. This is a common customization for artists and calligraphers, but is still smooth enough to make for a good everyday writer.
|
Formal Italic
 |
Formal Italic is an even crisper and more demanding customization than either cursive italic or left oblique, and is usually utilized for calligraphy and by the most experienced users. This provides broad down-strokes and narrow cross-strokes, with even crisper corners and edges than a cursive italic - this is an extremely position-sensitive customization.
|
Left Oblique
 |
 Commonly used for signatures and correspondence, the Left Oblique customization provides broad diagonal strokes and narrow cross-strokes, and like a cursive italic, is more position-sensitive and demanding than a stub. The whole pen must be rotated to the left in order to write smoothly, without skipping. The "Left" in Left Oblique refers to the cut of the nib itself, and does not refer to the handedness of the writer. |
Architect's Point (Also for Arabic and Hebraic writing)
 |
A more exotic regrind is that to Architect’s Point. Named after the style of writing used by Frank Lloyd Wright, this regrind is the opposite of cursive italic, and provides for broad cross-strokes and narrow down-strokes. This also tends to be a particularly useful customization for those practicing Arabic or Hebraic calligraphy. |
Spencerian
 |
Perhaps our most popular customization, but also one of the most advanced, the Mottishaw Spencerian Customization has gained special attention from being featured in a customer's YouTube video which has now received over twelve million views! The Spencerian starts from a semi-soft 14k nib and adds additional flex and a regrind to needlepoint to create a specialized writing point used for copperplate calligraphy. For more details, visit our special Spencerian page.. |