Pilot Maki-E Pen Identification

July 22, 2012

I recently picked up the Pilot maki-e pen below and would greatly appreciate help in ID-ing the artist, year of production, and value. From my Namiki book and other postings online I think it is by Koho, but would welcome confirmation (or opinions to the contrary). Thank you in advance, and best regards. Kyle

July 22, 2012

It would be great if you posted additional pictures. The ends of the pens are important for this identification. Also, what is the imprint on the nib. There may or may not be a date code on the nib. Also, what is the filling mechanism?

One of the problems is that many of the big Japanese companies tended to re-use themes on a maki-e pen. You can find the same pen (identical motif and art) on pens that are spread decades apart.

If you look on Stan's site, he has a link to a 1989 Pilot catalog, the pen on pg. 12, model no. FD-15000P-RT is almost the same pen as yours except the birds are in a mirror image position.

Based on your pictures, the pen looks like a Pilot Super from the 1950's. The clip design and conical ends are clues. If you look on pg. 366 of Andy Lambrou's book, he has other maki-e pens similar to yours with other themes. These date from c.1958. The signature looks like Koho but I'm not completely sure.

I'm not an expert on vintage maki-e pricing, but if the pen is a Pilot Super from the 1950's, I would price the pen in the $5-7K range.

You have a very nice pen and you really should hold onto it.

July 23, 2012

The design is called Birds of Paradise. Not a new design, a very similar design was used on a Dunhill Namiki pen dated 1930. It is shown in an advertisement on page 365 of Lambrou. Lambrou dates the Pilot Super makie models shown in his book to 1958 and this seems correct for standard designs. Interestingly, Nakazono dates a similar Pilot Super makie to 1962. This could be so as the Super platform was used for certain custom models after the Super went out of the catalogs. Lambrou has another pen of the same design and in reverse on page 371. He notes this to be a 'Made to order' model with no artist noted. "Made to order' might be a nebulous term considering a number of higher end models may have had to be ordered from the factory. I suspect your pen to be a standard model makie. Also, since patterns for makie were placed on pens with a template, this template could easily be reversed.

Based on the examples of signatures in Hutt & Overbury, Namiki: The Art of Japanese Lacquer Pens, the characters on the right appear to be Kokko Kai. A signature for Kohoh exists but it is different from that on the pen. The signature on the pen is not shown n that book.

In my opinion altecgreen is slightly generous in his estimation of the value. I do not buy or sell (at least not too many) makie but, see them for sale at lower prices at Yahoo Japan.