By Bill Riepl
The field of maki-e pens, especially of the high end, oversize presentation pieces was at one time a very narrow one. Basically, you collected Namiki. It made for a simple buying process, assuming that you could find an example of the pen you wanted. Limited production and lofty price tags combined with truly stunning workmanship to create a monumental demand.
Today,
your choices for really first rate maki-e work on a fountain pen have
expanded a bit. Danitrio has been around for years producing high end
limited editions, and have now recently entered the lofty realm formerly
exclusive to the Namiki Emperor series. A new model, the Genkai, is
allowing Danitrio plenty of scope for new designs. Their latest edition
is called the Two Pavilons, and takes full advantage of the size of
their new flagship model, with what seems like an endless expanse of
lush maki-e.
The two pavilions depicted in this magnificent work of art are Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion Temple, and the Ginkaku-ji, the Temple of the Silver Pavilion. These two buildings located in Kyoto are considered to be among the most famous temples in all of Japan.
Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion Temple
The Golden Pavilion was originally built in 1397 to serve as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. The entire pavilion except the lowest floor is covered with gold leaf. The pavilion functions as a Shariden, housing relics of the Buddha. On the roof of the pavilion is a Golden Fenghuang or Chinese Phoenix. In 1950, the temple was burned down, and the present structure dates from 1955, with a new coating of gold-leaf completed in 1987. Additionally, the interior of the building, including the paintings have also been completely restored.
The
Silver Pavilion was built in 1474 by the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa,
who sought to emulate the golden Kinkaku-ji commissioned by his grandfather.
Yoshimitsu's grandson used Kinkaku-ji as the inspiration for Ginkaku-ji,
a Buddhist temple, which he intended to cover in silver. However, due
to the increasing severity of the Onin War, construction was halted,
and the temple never received the covering of silver. The building,
originally intended to be a monument to ostentation, is now taken as
an example of refinement and restraint.
Like Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji was originally built to serve as a place of rest for the Shogun. Having retired to the villa, it is said Yoshimasa sat in the pavilion, contemplating the calm and beauty of the gardens as the Onin War worsened and Kyoto was burned to the ground. After his death the villa became a Buddhist temple, renamed Jisho-ji.
When you consider the scope of the subject matter, Danitrio has done an amazing job of presenting the artwork. The artist, Masanori Omote has selected exactly the right method of maki-e for each portion of the design, utilizing layered and raised techniques to add dimension to each pavilion. Further accents are provided by painstakingly cut and inlaid squares of silver, gold, and raden.
Wherever
you look on this pen you are struck by one detail or another, with the
supply of amazing artwork seemingly endless. From the depiction of the
background of a glowing reddish orange sky dusted with gold powder,
to the detailing of the trees that form the backdrop to the pavilions,
every aspect reflects an amazing attention to detail. Of course, the
sheer size of the pen is a help here, with a large canvas upon which
to work, the artist was allowed to take the detail to astounding levels.
Each
piece is signed by the artist and numbered, with an edition size of
only 18 pieces. This is in keeping with most of the recent Danitrio
editions, and while they would love to produce more pieces in each edition,
they are committed to retaining the highest level of art from the masters
they work with. Unfortunately, this usually boils down to fairly small
edition sizes, making many of these pieces very difficult to find. Many
end up being pre-ordered before the edition is made public. Of course,
to long time collectors of maki-e pens, this is nothing new... As with
collecting any fine art, patience, understanding, and sometimes, sheer
downright stubbornness are a prerequisite!
As a brief aside (since it might be somewhat unlikely for many of these pens to actually end up full of ink and in use daily!) We'll mention the actual writing characteristics of the Genkai pen upon which this editionis based. While very large, it is not so oversized as to be unusable. In fact, thanks to the ebonite construction, I found the pen to be fairly well balanced in the hand. Keeping in mind that I really do prefer "oversized" pens, this wasn't a pen that I wold consider to be "just for looks". Since the section narrows down from the admittedly hefty barrel width, you're left with a gripping area that is well within the range of pens such as the Montblanc 149 and the Delta Dolcavita OS. In other words, it's big, but not out of reason for "real world" use.
These pens are using the largest commonly
available nib today, and the actual writing performance is really quite
amazing. Of course, we were not allowed to ink up the sample of the
Pavilions we were sent, but we have had the chance to use the regular
production hard rubber Genkai pen, and it is actually quite a treat.
I find that larger sections allow me amore comfortable grip on the pen,
which helps a lot with my handwriting. In addition to the comfortable
grip, the larger nib used on these pens has a very nice feel on the
paper. Not quite flexible, but enough feedback to make it clear that
you're writing witha "real pen" and not a rollerball! Top
it all off with the amazing capacity provided by an eyedropper fill
pen, and you've got a machine made for writing. Whether or not you choose
to ink up your own one of eighteen maki-e masterpiece I leave
to you....
copyright 2006 William Riepl
Images copyright 2006 William Riepl