N^o 17: Sharakku & Utamaro

In the 18th century, two Japanese artists became famous for their paintings in the ukiyo-e painting genre, and even today, Sharakku Toshusai and Utamaro Kitagawa are the most well-known ukiyo-e artists of the Edo era in Japan. Not only did they set the tone during their creative career in Japan, they were also highly admired by the impressionists many years later and thus became popular in the Western world. On the Pelikan fountain pen “Sharakku & Utamaro”, their most famous drawings are depicted, being drawn very faithfully from the originals which sell at high prices at auctions today. These two drawings are painted with the Togidashi-Taka-Maki-e technique and surrounded by many gold plates which are affixed in painstaking detail one by one around the main drawings. This fountain pen is the crown jewel in the Unique Collection 2014 - a small masterpiece for a collector with very fine taste.

The Togidashi-Maki-e technique

In this technique, the rare Japanese lacquer Urushi is applied in a multitude of layers which are polished many times. The design is drawn first with tracing paper and then with colored lacquer onto the surface of the fountain pen. It is then sprinkled with a multitude of lacquer-layers or gold and silver dust.

The Taka Maki-e technique

The artist mixes charcoal powder or gold powder into the lacquer, so that the pattern of the design is raised above the surface and a three-dimensional effect is created: If your thumb glides over the surface, you will feel the difference.