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Lot 1131Ω
NAMIKI: Shrike, Chrysanthemums and Stream Maki-e Fountain Pen by Keisai, with Original Box and Guarantee, c.1930
16 June 2015, 10:00 PDT
San FranciscoSold for US$25,000 inc. premium
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NAMIKI: Shrike, Chrysanthemums and Stream Maki-e Fountain Pen by Keisai, with Original Box and Guarantee, c.1930
A wonderful vest pen depicting a richly-detailed shrike in combination hiramaki-e and takemaki-e techniques and gold foil okibirame. The shrike is perched on a rocky outcropping among flowering chrysanthemums; beneath him flows a tranquil stream. Red and silver pigments combine with the gold maki-e work to create a magnificent portrait of Japanese wildlife. The shrike, at once a rapacious hunter and a beautifully-plumed songbird, is emblematic, perhaps, of the creative and destructive duality of nature, a theme that has long intrigued Japanese artists and philosophers. Signed by Kaisai. Lever-filler. 14K gold #2 heart-vent Namiki nib. 100mm.
This pen's myriad attractions are enhanced by the presence of the fragile original pictorial paper-over-cardboard box, as well as the rare original manufacturer's guarantee, printed on several leaves sheathed in a black waxed-paper tube printed in gilt. As vintage Namikis grow progressively scarcer, and their status as cultural treasures becomes increasingly clear, sophisticated collectors are more and more intrigued by the original ephemera that accompanied these pens. Almost all of the original boxes and papers issued with vintage Namikis have been lost to posterity, and when a pen is found with all original packaging intact, an additional level of interest is added. A hallmark of the Dunhill-Namiki partnership was precise attention to every detail, and the charming original packaging was very much a part of the overall gestalt that elevated Dunhill-Namiki far above its competitors.
Provenance: From the Collection of a Gentleman.
-Hutt, Julia & Stephen Overbury. Namiki: The Art of Lacquer Pens. [Toronto: 2000], pp. 104-105, 151. This pen is illustrated in the "Masterpieces" section of the book with three separate photographs.
-Murakami, Tomihiro. Dunhill-Namiki and Lacquer Pens. [Sakura City: 2002], p. 22 ("The highlight of this lacquer work focuses on a shrike. It represents a very precise depth effect in red and green hiramakie and takamakie... This has first class workmanship among these kind of lacquer works related to birds"). See also p. 57 for images of vintage Namiki cases and boxes.
This pen's myriad attractions are enhanced by the presence of the fragile original pictorial paper-over-cardboard box, as well as the rare original manufacturer's guarantee, printed on several leaves sheathed in a black waxed-paper tube printed in gilt. As vintage Namikis grow progressively scarcer, and their status as cultural treasures becomes increasingly clear, sophisticated collectors are more and more intrigued by the original ephemera that accompanied these pens. Almost all of the original boxes and papers issued with vintage Namikis have been lost to posterity, and when a pen is found with all original packaging intact, an additional level of interest is added. A hallmark of the Dunhill-Namiki partnership was precise attention to every detail, and the charming original packaging was very much a part of the overall gestalt that elevated Dunhill-Namiki far above its competitors.
Provenance: From the Collection of a Gentleman.
-Hutt, Julia & Stephen Overbury. Namiki: The Art of Lacquer Pens. [Toronto: 2000], pp. 104-105, 151. This pen is illustrated in the "Masterpieces" section of the book with three separate photographs.
-Murakami, Tomihiro. Dunhill-Namiki and Lacquer Pens. [Sakura City: 2002], p. 22 ("The highlight of this lacquer work focuses on a shrike. It represents a very precise depth effect in red and green hiramakie and takamakie... This has first class workmanship among these kind of lacquer works related to birds"). See also p. 57 for images of vintage Namiki cases and boxes.