Pelikan Ginko & Maple Leaves Limited Edition

Every year, Pelikan will released two maki-e limited edition. The Pelikan Maki-e “Ginko & Maple Leaves” Limited Edition is the second maki-e limited edition. Pelikan maki-e artisan Yamazaki-san continue to show case the beauty of Japan with the Pelikan Maki-e "Ginko & Maple Leaves" Limited Edition fountain pen.

In autumn, both the ginko and maple leaves changes their colors. The ginko leaves turn a bright yellow, then fall, sometimes within a short space of time from one to 15 days. The maple will turn orangish red.

While the design is all about leaves, maki-e artisan Yamazaki-san using his skillful hand bring the autumn motifs of Japan alive. The glittering leaves look as if they have just twirled from the tree in the first autumn wind, with golden splashes of color that show this magnificent season and its warm sunlight at its best.

The maple leaves are painted using the Taka maki-e technique. A maki-e technique which raise the design above the surface giving it the third dimension.

 The leave stem are given painted with gold paint making it come alive and giving it another dimension. When your thumb glides over the maple leave (picture below), you will feel the difference. The maple leave and the stem so real, like a piece of the actual leave glue to the fountain pen.

 The fan shape leave are the ginko leaves. The are not as interesting as the maple leaves. It uses a different maki-e techinque from the maple leaves.

Yamazaki-san uses both Taka maki-e technique and Kiri-gane (gold leaf art) to paint a few of the ginko leaves.

 On the pen barrel, both the Ginko and Maple leave are painted using taka maki-e technique but with a different design and layout.

One particular maple leaf catches our attention (above below).  It uses Kiri-gane with Taka maki-e technique to give 3D and form pattern. A technique which the artisan slice the gold leaf into tiny desired shape like a square or thin stripe as narrow as a 1/1000mm.

The artisan uses bamboo leaf to splice the gold leaf into the desire shape or stripe. The bamboo knife is the best tool as as metal or other material knife will caused static and hence damage the gold leaf.

The art of using gold leaft to decorate ornament was not born in Japan but back to 3 BC from ancient Egypt. The use of gold leaf later make it to Japan during the 700 AD together with Buddhism. It florish as the Buddhism became wide spread in 1300, but slowly die off in the early 1800 during the modernization of Japan.

The pen is crowned with a maki-e Pelikan logo. Like all Pelikan Maki-e Limited Edition, it comes only with the standard Pelikan M1000 Souverän finely-chased 18 carat gold nib accentuated with a rhodium décor, in the nib size M. Each pen is individually signed by the artist.

It is currently available locally in Singapore.

The following is a youtube clip from Pelikan about the art of creating a Maki-e fountain pen using this beautiful Pelikan Ginko and Maple Leaves Limited Edition as The Pen.