Pen World v26.3

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celebrating the regal

ROMANOVS with Phoenix Lacquer Art mining the past with British heritage brand

ONOTO famous names and pens come together at

ACME APRIL 2013 $6.95US $7.95CAN

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VOLUME 26, NUMBER 3 on the cover: Phoenix Lacquer Art Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna from the Romanov Collection

50 remembering Russian royalty

Commemmorating the Romanov dynasty 400 years after its ascent to power

33 the future is here

A look at the pen show scene through prodigal eyes brings a revelation.

46 a gel of an idea

Free-flowing broad gel ink refills offer a unique writing experience.

54 heritage penmaking

British brand Onoto builds on the successes of its past.

57 from ACME with love

ACME’s collaborations result in smart and affordable designer pens.

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60 3D printing comes to pendom The Dutch company Pjotr brings a futuristic technology to the art of penmaking.

64 main squeeze

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The elegant bulb-filler comes into its own in Part II of Richard Binder’s exploration.

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Harvest Crittenden

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News

was heartened to learn that Indiana state senator Jean Leising hasn’t given up her quest to restore cursive writing in the state’s curriculum. PW readers will remember that in 2011, Indiana became the forty-first state (now there are forty-five) to drop cursive as a requirement, leaving it up to individual schools to decide whether to teach it.

As I searched for more information about the status of this bill, I learned that a similar effort has just been announced in North Carolina.

These recent events are encouraging, but what has led so many states to remove cursive in the first place? They have adopted the Common Core, a set of standards meant to ensure that students in the United States are meeting the same standards regardless of the state in which they live. I spent quite a bit of time looking through the Common Core requirements (corestandards.org), and I saw nothing on the actual production of handwriting of any kind, printing or cursive. The standards for writing are all—even from kindergarten— focused on composition.

Handwriting instruction was simply left out. To get it back as a requirement would mean getting it into the Common Core requirements, adding a handwriting requirement at the state level as Indiana and North Carolina are attempting to do or simply rejecting the Common Core altogether. I learned that my

own state, Texas, has not yet adopted it, and you can bet I’m going to be writing some letters—and sending reprints of the research we’ve published on the benefits of handwriting.

We have a garden of beautiful pens to show you in this issue, including the stunningly detailed cover pens, Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna

by Phoenix Lacquer Arts. We also look inside the venerable British brand Onoto and the Hawaii-based ACME Studio, which has brought some of the greatest names in design and architecture to pens. And you’ll read about a Dutch maker who is applying 3D printing technology to luxury pens.

Richard Binder completes his examination of bulb-filling fountain pens, and contributing editors Deborah Basel, Julian H. Kreeger and Barry Robinson all weigh in: Basel in a continuation of her series on calligraphers, featuring Harvest Crittenden; Kreeger on the nibs of Sheaffer, which is celebrating its centennial this year; and Robinson on broad gel refills. If you’re not already a fan of gel refills, we think the ones he mentions will win you over.

editor@penworld.com

The nine-pen Russian Empire Romanov 400 Years Jubilee set, hand-painted with portraits of all the Romanov tsars

Regal

PHOENIX LACQUER ART

t’s staggering to think of the changes Russia has undergone throughout history. From a firm tsarist rule to Communist autocracy, from serfdom to free-market, from insular to imperial, Russia has undergone transformation like few other countries. Now, more than twenty years removed from Communist rule, Russia is once again a different place, and the Russian people are able to appreciate their history more than

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ever. And this year’s 400th anniversary of the ascension of the Romanovs is now a focal point of that appreciation.

This year’s celebration would have been unthinkable just a generation or two ago. As Inna Kaufman puts it, “Who would have thought some forty or fifty years ago that we would celebrate 400 years of Romanov history?” Kaufman, a native of Russia now based in Amsterdam, is principal of the Inna

Kaufman Gallery. In 2010, she began Phoenix Lacquer Art, which subsequently took the collector world by the proverbial storm with brilliantly detailed Russian Miniature artwork applied to Visconti-manufactured pens. Now, with three years of penmaking success behind her, Kaufman embarks on arguably her most ambitious project yet, a pen series titled Romanov 400 Years Jubilee, part of the Russian Empire Collection.

RUSSIAN ROYALTY The Romanov tsars portrayed in the limited edition pen set are, from left, Mikhail I Feodorovich (reigned 1613–45), Peter the Great (r. 1696–1725), Catherine the Great (r. 1762–96), Paul I (r.

1796–1801), Alexander I (r. 1801–25), Nicholas I (r. 1825–55), Alexander II (r.

1855–81), Alexander III (r. 1881–94), Nicholas II (r. 1894–1917).

Line

BY NICKY PESSAROFF

UNVEILS THE ROMANOV SERIES.

Some brilliant, others terrible, each fascinating, the Romanovs ruled Russia until 1917, when the last Russian tsar, Nicholas II, was deposed

by Bolshevik revolutionaries. The dynasty began with another power struggle that ended when sixteen-yearold Mikhail Romanov was proclaimed tsar of Russia in 1613. Romanovs ruled Russia with autocratic power for the next 300 years, turning the provincial kingdom into a world power in

the process. Simply put, the Romanovs made history.

Twenty-odd years since Soviet rule and 100-odd beyond tsarist rule, times and attitudes have changed in favor of the Romanovs. Once vilified by the Communist party, whose main organizing tenet was anti-tsarist feeling, the current government gives the Romanov line the respect it deserves.

“The Romanovs are considered an important part of Russian history,”

Kaufman continues. “Most Russians probably have positive feelings toward the name Romanov, although the majority would surely not have a monarchy back! But it’s safe to say that the general view of the Romanovs has changed in a positive way.”

Phoenix Lacquer Art’s exclusive series of Romanov pens pays homage to the ruling family. Only five sets have been produced; each set includes nine hand-painted pens, and each pen 51

The complete Russian Empire Romanov 400 Years Jubilee set with its presentation box; three views of the Alexander III pen

features a miniaturized portrait of a Romanov tsar exquisitely detailed in the tradition of the Russian miniature art school of Fedoskino.

Russian miniaturism is almost as old as Russia itself. Its roots lie in Christian iconography. For centuries, artisans have made exquisitely detailed portraits of the Russian Orthodox saints as well as biblical scenes using a fastidious lacquering process and bright colors to give the entire piece light. These miniature works of art were displayed in the greatest churches as well as in the humblest homes. With time, the icons became recognized as works of art, and Russian miniaturism blossomed in both style and in form, with artists painting peasant- and folk tale–inspired scenes. Eventually, four distinct schools developed.

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Since the late eighteenth century, the Fedoskino artistic tradition has been known for its depiction of Russian history and peasant life.

Artists create a luminous halo effect by using mother-of-pearl, gold leaf or silver leaf in the background. It’s a striking technique to apply to portrait miniatures. Each of the pens in the set features a torso-length image of a Romanov in regal garb—based on his or her official portrait—against a background of finely textured gold. A crown, painted on the pen’s cap, floats above each tsar’s head, and the black lacquer at both ends of the pen is embellished with a diamond pattern in silver. Painted gold bands finish the pen, which resembles in its entirety a sort of glowing column.

“The real point of this project has always been to portray nine tsars in

such a way that they would be easily and individually recognizable, but at the same time seen as a whole, a series,” Kaufman says. It’s the background that gives the set a cohesive feeling; only the portraits change.

Seeing the collection as a whole, all nine pens in a black ebony box that’s only slightly less striking than the pens themselves, gives one a feeling of majesty; it’s a regal collection.

A separate set of two pens in a similar style honors Nicholas II and his wife. Production of the Russian Empire Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna is limited to just ten sets, available directly through Phoenix Lacquer Art or the company’s exclusive retail partners. The nine-pen Romanov series is limited to five sets, which must be ordered directly from Phoenix Lacquer Art.

The base of the Russian Empire Romanov 400 Years Jubilee set is the Visconti Magnum fountain pen with Visconti’s power filler. The Russian Empire Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna set uses the same Visconti Magnum or a large Japanese eyedropper-filled pen as its base. All the nibs are made by Bock of Germany. While the bodies and mechanisms of the two sets ensure that these pens are fine writers, the emphasis here is on the quality of the art.

“The artists I select I’ve known for many, many years,” Kaufman says.

“This particular artist is from the Fedoskino school, and she specializes in realistic miniature paintings. She studied at the Fedoskino art school, and after years of hard work and study, she became an artist in her own right, widely respected for her portraits.”

These limited series took the artist a full year to finish, and she has captured the majesty of her subjects and translated the power of their portraits

onto the pens with amazing insight.

The images manage to emphasize the regality of the individual tsars while also portraying them as fully human.

Kaufman wouldn’t have it any other way. This project is her means of honoring a part of Russian history she believes deserves celebration. “These collections are about what we Russians mutually share. This jubilee is a moment for all to remember, and we want to share this celebration with anyone who enjoys the beauty of our artist’s work.” With such a limited edition run, the only problem Inna Kaufman and Phoenix Lacquer Art may encounter is demand for more than five sets.

For more detail, including price information, telephone 31.654972488 or visit phoenixlacquerart.com.

NICKY PESSAROFF is a graduate of the MFA program in writing at New Mexico State University and a freelance writer living in New Mexico.

The Russian Empire Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna set above—A nib from the series and a detail of a hand-bellished crown.

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