Fine Writing - Stylus Magazine

Since he already had a lacquered
pen, he realized if he
applied the centuries old techniques
of maki-e, he would have
a truly unique product. Namiki
consulted with Shisui Rokkaku,
who was a professor of lacquer
craft at the Tokyo Fine Arts
School. With his advice, he hired
two artists, Kohoh Lida and Shogo
Iijima to make prototypes.
With prototypes in hand,
Namiki and Wada traveled
throughout Europe and America
to seek their fortune and peddle
their wares. They met with the
great luxury retailers of the day:
Cartier, Asprey and Tiffany. The
first pens ordered and delivered
simply bore the name Namiki.
by 1926, Namiki had offices
in London, New York, Singapore
and Shanghai. An Englishman,
William Marshall, was hired to
sell in Europe. They were so successful
that they next hired a fulltime
artisan, Gonroko Matsuda,
already considered a master at 30
years old.
Alfred Dunhill of London
(purveyor of fine men’s clothing
and accessories, offering such
brand names as Cartier, van Cleef
& Arpels, Jaeger and Montblanc)
loved these pens so much that,
in 1930, he sent Clement Court
to Japan to negotiate exclusive
marketing rights to Namiki’s
pens. (Dunhill scored exclusive
rights in England, Europe and
the United States.) A collection
of pens marked “Dunhill Namiki
Made in Japan” was the beginning
of one of the most successful
luxury product lines of
all time and would become a
treasure trove for thousands of
collectors a hundred years later.
For one to fully appreciate
maki-e pens, it is important to
understand the amount of work
involved in each piece.
Over the centuries, artisans
learned to add and mix various
pigments and metallic powders.
They developed techniques
resulting in three-dimensional
effects, such as in texture and
depth. by applying materials to
wet surfaces, curing and then
polishing them, they created
masterful works of art. Maki-e
pens are, in reality, cylindrical art
forms. If you study these pens,
you’d find they are not geometrically
balanced; rather they are a
single painting or scene with a
beginning and end.
Maki-e decorations of the
past were made on wood. Three
levels of craftsmanship were
required: preparing the wood,
priming the surface and finally
the maki-e-shi work. because
of the nature of lacconite, only
the maki-e-shi work was needed
for pens. Many layers of lacquer
are applied to the pen base. Pens
were produced in many versions,
or grades, anywhere from
a plain black finish to grade A,
which incorporated many makie
techniques. Many varieties of
metallic powders and flakes are
This is a very
rare Vintage
#50 (emperor
size pen) depicting
Thundergod
fighting a Dragon.
Many of these
Super High
Grade pens were
made for Alfred
Dunhill’s Wealthy
friends before
the war.
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