Truly a valuable piece of fine art, this oblique pen holder is the most exquisite one in my calligraphy arsenal. I couldn’t hide my excitement when the package that contained this finally arrived. There are two major reasons why I am absolutely in love with this writing tool. One, an Urushi craftsman made this one for me. Two, because it is inexpressively beautiful.
Urushi Calligraphy Pen
As always the case with Urushi pens, the intricate details give away the amount of passion and level of artistic excellence that the pen maker commits into anything that he creates! Each calligraphy pen contains a piece of him. For this Peony-inspired oblique pen holder, it is clear that he poured his heart and soul! I have always been a major fan of Urushi and this fulfills a dream of mine to own a fine art item that used this highly-revered Japanese lacquer art. Here’s the note from the Urushi pen artist, describing the processes involved in making this marvelous artwork:
This pen is made from century-old rosewood, finished with roasted quail egg shell inlay and Japanese-lacquered (Urushi). I painted the whole pen in this order. First, raw lacquer. Afterwards, raw lacquer mixed with soil. Brown lacquer and black lacquer followed. The application involved two-three layers of each kind. Once that is fully done, I then inlaid the quail eggshell and mother of pearl. For the next process, I continuously covered the pen with black lacquer and polished until the shells reappeared. Crucial steps ensued. I touched up the finer details with black lacquer, real gold and silver dust and polished the pen using antler ash until everything is shiny. This is an absolutely complicated process that it took me 7-8 weeks to finish it. One layer needs 24-48 hours to dry in a humid box.
Reading this information, my calligraphy pens that are already unique or truly one-of-a-kind felt extra special. If you are a calligrapher or if you want to buy a meaningful gift for a friend who is into calligraphy, I highly recommend making online pen stores as your shopping destination.
Peony Urushi Oblique Pen Holder
On my Resource page, I listed some calligraphy pen stores. While they may not offer Urushi pens yet, in the United States, John Neal Books and Paper and Ink Arts offer a wide array of oblique pen holders. These two shops also ship internationally.
Urushi Pen Collection
- Aogai Raden Urushi Pen Holder
- Kara-Nuri Urushi Pen Holder
- Kawari-Nuri Shun Urushi Pen Holder
- Yako Gai Raden Urushi Pen Holder
- Galaxy Urushi Pen Holder
- Night Rain Urushi Pen Holder
This indeed looks like a piece of art! A lot of work has gone into making it – so, it is definitely a piece to treasure. I can very well understand your excitement about it.
WHAT A HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL PIECE. THE EGG SHELL MOSAIC IS REALLY A NICE WABI SABI CONTRAST TO THE MORE CHINESE STYLING OF THE BRIGHTER BITS AND THE REST OF THE PEN. IMPRESSIVE!
Hello Roger and Eileen,
I appreciate this comment! Thank you very much. I’ve always loved the Urushi technique and seeing the pen-maker fusing that approach with my calligraphy pen really took everything to a different level.
Regards,
Stiv
So unique and beatuful! I know the hard work and love that must have went into it!