Towering over Pilot-Namiki’s Emperor pens was a 95th Anniversary Nobori Ryu (Rising Dragon) limited edition Emperor maki-e fountain pen, which sold for $21,250. Pilot-Namiki released the Emperor Nobori Ryu pen in celebration of the company’s 95th anniversary in 2013. The pen is decorated with a richly detailed dragon winding its way around the barrel and cap as it ascends towards the heavens.
Review by W.A. Demers
BERKELEY, CALIF. — Fine Japanese lacquer pens were showcased in PBA Galleries’ June 6 auction featuring a Copenhagen collection that numbered more than 160 lots of outstanding modern and vintage maki-e pens by Pilot-Namiki, Dunhill-Namiki, Platinum, Sailor, Yotsubishi, Pelikan and other makers, as well as a selection of non-maki-e pens, both modern and vintage, from makers, including Montblanc, Parker, Waterman, Astoria, OMAS, Montegrappa and others. PBA Galleries — president Sharon Green reported — yielded excellent results, especially for the oversized lacquer examples known as “Emperor” pens. The auction house is the world’s leading auctioneer of fine writing instruments, thanks to specialist Ivan Briggs, who, for more than 15 years, conducted fine pen auctions, previews and events worldwide. This sale totaled $304,419 with a 90 percent sell-through rate.
Foremost among the Emperor pens was a Pilot-Namiki 95th Anniversary Nobori Ryu (Rising Dragon) limited edition maki-e fountain pen, which sold for $21,250 to a private collector. Pilot-Namiki released the Emperor Nobori Ryu pen in celebration of the company’s 95th anniversary in 2013. The pen is decorated with a richly detailed dragon winding its way around the barrel and cap as it ascends towards the heavens. The design is rendered in exquisite takamaki-e and raised togidashi maki-e techniques, with inlaid raden (mother-of-pearl). The Rising Dragon is considered a harbinger of good fortune and abundance, a theme reflected in the luxurious gold and abalone shell ornamentation, one of Namiki’s most esteemed modern designs.
A Pilot-Namiki 90th Anniversary Emperor Toki maki-e limited edition fountain pen sold for $12,000. This pen features the Toki, or crested ibis, depicted by an intricate pattern of eggshell fragments in the precise rankaku technique.
Another Pilot-Namiki, this one a 90th Anniversary Emperor Toki maki-e limited edition fountain pen sold for $12,000. This pen featured the Toki, or crested ibis, a mascot of sorts for Japan. On this pen it is depicted by an intricate pattern of eggshell fragments in the precise rankaku technique. Catalog notes described how master artisan Yasunori Sakamoto captures the effect that the Toki’s vermillion skin exhibits when bathed in golden sunlight.
A tribute to America’s White House was presented by a Montblanc skeleton pen made from translucent blue resin with white gold columns evoking the columns of the building’s architecture. The pen also had an eagle with sapphire eyes at the base of its clip, and it was trimmed with many sapphires, brilliant-cut diamonds and square-cut diamonds. A finishing touch was a medium 18K rhodium-plated gold nib with an engraving of the presidential seal. The limited edition fountain pen sold for $25,000 to a private collector.
The Namiki Emperor Setsugekka maki-e limited fountain pen is decorated in togedashi maki-e and raised takamaki-e techniques, in gold, silver and vivid pigments by master artist Michifumi. The word “setsugekka” expresses the beauty of nature in the seasons — snow in winter, the moon in autumn and flowers in spring. This pen features a medium 18K two-tone #50 Emperor-sized gold nib and Mount Fuji motif. It went out at $13,750.
The Namiki Butterfly & Chrysanthemum Emperor maki-e limited edition fountain pen was decorated with several great purple emperor butterflies flying among gold and green chrysanthemums. In Japan, the butterfly is an auspicious symbol owing to its being a symbol of regeneration and revival. The pen brought $12,500.
Fetching $12,500 was the Namiki Butterfly & Chrysanthemum Emperor maki-e limited edition fountain pen. Here, several great purple emperor butterflies fly among gold and green chrysanthemums decorated by maki-e artisan Michifumi employing several intricate techniques. In Japan, the butterfly is an auspicious symbol owing to its being a symbol of regeneration and revival.
The Namiki Goose & Pink Flower limited edition maki-e fountain replicates a model created in the 1930s with its main subject a goose. Depicted are traditional Japanese motifs of a goose and pink blossoms. Signed by an unknown artist and with a broad 18K gold #5 nib, the limited edition fountain pen was bid to $11,875.
Lovers of horseback archery may feel empowered wielding the Namiki Emperor Yabu-Same maki-e limited edition fountain pen. Numbered 60 in a series of 99, the pen sold for $9,375. The Japanese Yabusame mounted archery ritual, illustrated in raised takamaki-e and burnished togidashi maki-e in a vivid tableaux by artist Michifumi Kawaguchi, was described in the catalog notes as an act of great skill.
In raised decoration, a dragon with fire ornamentation and billowing clouds were featured on the Pilot-Namiki Dragon and Clouds Takimaki-e vintage fountain pen by Kyusai. This pen ascended to $8,750.
There be dragons, well, one dragon in raised decoration, with raised fire ornamentation and billowing raised clouds in the Pilot-Namiki Dragon and Clouds Takimaki-e vintage fountain pen by Kyusai. In a design considered auspicious, the dragon clutches a pearl in its talons, which, the catalog states, is a reference in Japanese folklore to the belief that dragons derive their power from pearls, enabling them to ascend to the heavens. This pen ascended to $8,750.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. The next pen auction will be announced, likely late 2024. For more information, 415-989-2665 or www.pbagalleries.com.
