A Christmas Dani

[jar]

So Santa-sama got me a Danitrio this year. It's a Takumi size pen, cartridge converter with Dani's #6 (think MB 146) size nib. Basic material is ebonite covered with urushi and decorated with maki-e, raden and silver leaf. So without further ado here are:

The Boring Details

Capped Length: 148mm/5.8"
Body Length (including nib): 134mm/5.28" (I don't post this one and not sure it would post)
Weight:30.3g/1.06 ounces
Nib: 18K #6 Danitrio "Fireball" two tone (most likely Bock sourced) medium width
Basic Painting: Rorio-shiage in KuroTame (Black)
Decoration: Maki-e painting, raden, silver leaf

The designs on the cap are Mitsudomoe which are a form of Tomoe, a collection of Magatama arranged in a circle.

Magatama are comma shaped objects that were first found as individual items carved from stone or fashioned from clay and fired common to the later Jomon period, Japan's neolithic culture dating from around 10,000 BC to about 300 BC. Later the form was adopted by many other cultures. One very familar example of a Tomoe is the Ying/Yang symbol composed of two Magatama.

The three magatama tomoe (a Mitsudomoe) on this pen is a Shinto symbol associated with the relationships between man, earth and sky and mankind, reality and the spirits. The empty space between the magatamas forms a Triskelion, a three bladed sickle like object often associated with the wheel or speed (used on the US Department of Transportation logo for example) and also the insertable disk that you could put in the hole of a 45 record to play it on a skinny spindle standard player.



On the body is a stylized poppy, symbol of joy and fun. (Wrong; it's a Cherry Blossom)

The nib is as described in the Boring Details but IMHO it is also purty.

A close look at the decorations will show the contrast to what we saw in the earlier review of the five entry level Maki-e pens. Here you can see the individual elements, the brushstrokes as it were, of the craftsman. You can see where paint was used, the individual pieces of abalone shell that have been inserted, the strips of silver foil used to outline and contrast, the dots stamped out of the silver foil (the foil is really, really thin, about 1/1000 of an inch thick) that can be seen in the center of the poppy. (Not Poppy but Cherry Blossom)

The filling system is my favorite, cartridge/converter and uses the standard International size cartridges or converters.

The signature of the maki-e shi found on the section is 志皓 which translates I'm told as KokorozashiAkira.

[Pelikan-Vera]

Jar congratulations for receiving this beautiful pen use it in good health. Vera

[Crazyorange]

Heart stopping beautiful.

[Lady Onogaro]

That is gorgeous. Thank you for sharing it with us.

[amk]

Wow. That's a lovely pen, and the colours on the magatama are just amazing, almost like fresh sushi and wasabi - not the muted colours often found in urushi but really zingy. Lovely photos, too. Enjoy your new pen!

[jar]

Well, once again it appears that I am wrong. The image on the body is not a Poppy but rather a Japanese Cherry Blossom. The five petals are indicative as well as their shape. The symbolism also changes to mean kind and gentle.

[Jeph]

Excellent pen and excellent pictures Jar, as usual.

[bluesea]

Well, once again it appears that I am wrong. The image on the body is not a Poppy but rather a Japanese Cherry Blossom. The five petals are indicative as well as their shape. The symbolism also changes to mean kind and gentle.

Exceptional pen. The color made me think of an Ume Blossom (plum. They look the same as a cherry blossom, and in Japan is also often depicted in art.

[jar]

So finally heard from Winedoc about this pen. It was a prototype and part of a Formosan series and the artist is Zhi Hao.