Art Deco Pens

[Inflection]

I'd like to compile a list of Art Deco pens, since I am a big fan of that aesthetic.

 

Art Deco is an art style that was popular after WWI and before WWII. The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the Rockefeller Plaza are all famous examples of Art Deco. Anyone who has played the video game Bioshock knows the game drips with the aesthetic. The recent film The Great Gatsby feasts on this style. Many covers of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged are drawn in Art Deco. The style features sweeping geometric shapes, often plated in gold and silver, with machine age iconography, representing the forward movement of man towards a technological utopia.

 

http://i.imgur.com/ROJKF8A.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2QmBh8L.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/Klk3Rxh.png

 

http://ajithprasad.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/old-hero-pen.jpg

 

The above pen is a Hero 100, and although it was introduced in 1958 (as a Parker 51 clone) it has that strong Art Deco aesthetic to it. I don't think many pens of the Art Deco period were specifically made to be Art Deco pens, unlike the buildings of the era. I'm no expert on Parker 51's so I can't say whether the designers were truly inspired by Art Deco or not, though many sources claim Parker designed it in the AD style. Anyway, tracking down pens that are either original Art Deco pens from the period (1920's-1940's) or Art Deco inspired pens is something I'd like to do.

 

If anyone can identify any examples of Art Deco in fountain pens, that would be great!

[usk15]

I believe that Parker Vacumatic is made in Art Deco style and spirit:

 

http://www.estilograficas.org/imagenes/examen/parker-vacumatic-oversize-green/parker-vacumatic-oversize-green-3.jpg

[linearM]

I would suggest the Wahl Eversharp Equipoise and the Doric pens would both have the Art Deco feel to them.

[Hardcase]

Also Esterbrook J pens. Among other bits, the clips have a very strong art-deco vibe to me.

[jar]

Wahl/Eversharp 5th Ave pens, Skyline (more streamline industrial perhaps); Sheaffer had lots of art deco products from lamp to desk sets to paper weights and of course the modern Roaring Twenties LE. Parker Vacs and striped Duofolds; Waterman Taperites.

[Beckwith]

I think the Visconti Wall Street has a bit of Art Deco going on http://www.viscontipens.co.uk/cms/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/v/i/visconti_wall_street_green_fountain_group.jpg

 

The two pens that strike me as most Art Deco right now are the Parker Premier (http://fpgeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/parker-premier-luxury-fountain-pen-brown-and-rose-POP.png) and Parker Sonnet (http://www.pensandleather.com/images/products/detail/parker_sonnet_masculine_brown_lacquer_pgt_pen.jpg) in those particular finishes.

 

Obviously all three of those pens were made well past the actual Art Deco period.

[ANM]

I'd like to compile a list of Art Deco pens, since I am a big fan of that aesthetic.

 

Art Deco is an art style that was popular after WWI and before WWII. The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building and the Rockefeller Plaza are all famous examples of Art Deco. Anyone who has played the video game Bioshock knows the game drips with the aesthetic. The recent film The Great Gatsby feasts on this style. Many covers of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged are drawn in Art Deco. The style features sweeping geometric shapes, often plated in gold and silver, with machine age iconography, representing the forward movement of man towards a technological utopia.

 

http://i.imgur.com/ROJKF8A.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/2QmBh8L.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/Klk3Rxh.png

 

http://ajithprasad.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/old-hero-pen.jpg

 

The above pen is a Hero 100, and although it was introduced in 1958 (as a Parker 51 clone) it has that strong Art Deco aesthetic to it. I don't think many pens of the Art Deco period were specifically made to be Art Deco pens, unlike the buildings of the era. I'm no expert on Parker 51's so I can't say whether the designers were truly inspired by Art Deco or not, though many sources claim Parker designed it in the AD style. Anyway, tracking down pens that are either original Art Deco pens from the period (1920's-1940's) or Art Deco inspired pens is something I'd like to do.

 

If anyone can identify any examples of Art Deco in fountain pens, that would be great!

 

While one can say that WWII started on Sept. 1, 1939, one can't say that was the last day of Art Deco. Art styles don't end suddenly but rather fade away or have reincarnations and/or reinterpretations. In reality, Art Deco still exists today because it is still popular, or perhaps popular again. Like Impressionism that didn't die with Monet but continued with lesser known artists long afterward and coexisted with newer styles. Art of a certain style can be created outside of rigidly defined parameters. If Parker 51 was an Art Deco design, it's not necessarily disqualified for that style just because it was produced after the start of WWII. Eversharp Skyline is another example of Art Deco that was designed and sold after WWII. By the same token just because an object was created within a certain time period, it does not follow that it is of the predominate art style of that age. It could be of an older style or the inspiration of a new style. Rembrandt's paintings were considered old fashioned or out of current style when he was an old man but a Rembrandt today is valuable whether he made it when it was in style during his youth or in his old age.

Edited June 14, 2014 by ANM

[GTOZack]

parker duofold , i absolutely loved bioshock and the 1930s feel.

[ANM]

When it comes to Parker 51, I'd say it is closer to Bauhaus than Art Deco.

Edited June 14, 2014 by ANM

[OcalaFlGuy]

The 3 rib "Toaster" jewel is generally considered Art Deco-ish. (AmberLeaDavis, this is the pen with a different nib. The 2442 looks neater.)

 

Black Esterbrook Transitional, 1st model around '43 ish.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

 

[Mafia Geek]

The Omas pens are very much Art Deco (they even have an Art Deco line). Even the packaging of the ink bottles and cartridges are Art Deco. I really like the pens, they are on my must buy list but a little pricey for me a the moment.

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2014 by Mafia Geek

[Inflection]

 

While one can say that WWII started on Sept. 1, 1939, one can't say that was the last day of Art Deco. Art styles don't end suddenly but rather fade away or have reincarnations and/or reinterpretations. In reality, Art Deco still exists today because it is still popular, or perhaps popular again. Like Impressionism that didn't die with Monet but continued with lesser known artists long afterward and coexisted with newer styles. Art of a certain style can be created outside of rigidly defined parameters. If Parker 51 was an Art Deco design, it's not necessarily disqualified for that style just because it was produced after the start of WWII. Eversharp Skyline is another example of Art Deco that was designed and sold after WWII. By the same token just because an object was created within a certain time period, it does not follow that it is of the predominate art style of that age. It could be of an older style or the inspiration of a new style. Rembrandt's paintings were considered old fashioned or out of current style when he was an old man but a Rembrandt today is valuable whether he made it when it was in style during his youth or in his old age.

 

I think it's safe to say Art Deco is no longer ubiquitous, which is what I meant when I said "popular" in the inter-war period. I believe that after WWII is when Art Deco started to become outdated and replaced by the Futurism of the 50's.

 

Let's just say this is not a common sight in 2014...

 

[Ink Stained Wretch]

This is the kind of thing that we can all discuss until we croak, and I'm sure that some have, so I'm not going to try to be definitive in setting boundaries here. But I will say that Art Deco did persist strongly well into the '40s, arguably through the '40s. I saw a lot of Art Deco stuff that was left over from then when I was a kid. By then it was the '50s and Art Deco was definitely passé. Some still loved the style even then, however.

[WaskiSquirrel]

The North Dakota state capitol is built in the art deco style. Outside it's a plain white building, but the inside is very impressive.

[LindaM]

A fun way to watch Art Deco morph into Modernism is to watch the Thin Man movies. From the first one in 1934 to the last one in 1947, the styles change a lot.

 

That's leaving aside the rather depressing and very dated aspects of the movies.

[Algester]

Whal-Eversharp Skyline (Vintage) can't go wron with more art deco with that pen... heck the inspiration is really into the art deco spectrum

[SnorriRafn]

I find these to be a bit art deco:

http://www.netsellsit.com/images/ebay/Diplomat_FP_BlackLaq_004.JPG

[Freddy]

I'd like to compile a list of Art Deco pens, since I am a big fan of that aesthetic.

 

Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building

 

 

 

Anyway, tracking down pens that are either original Art Deco pens from the period (1920's-1940's) or Art Deco inspired pens is something I'd like to do.

 

If anyone can identify any examples of Art Deco in fountain pens, that would be great!

 

Redactin': For your consideration....15:39

 

The Eversharp..Coronet Dubonnet in Red...

 

Another in the style to consider the Waterman Ink-Vue in Copper Ray..

Emerald Ray..Silver Ray....

 

The Skyline designed by Dreyfuss more of the 20th Century Limited look....

 

 

Fred

I tell ya I get no respect from anyone....

 

I bought a cemetery plot. The guy said..'there goes the neighborhood.'

 

I can't take it anymore. I'm in bad shape.

 

Every time I get in an elevator..the operator says the same thing

to me..'Basement?'

 

Last week was a ruff week.

I saw my kid and the milkman going to a father and son dinner....

 

~ Rodney Dangerfield ~

Edited June 14, 2014 by Freddy

[kernando]

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/134251-recommend-deco-styled-pens/

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/135669-why-the-skyline-is-art-deco/

 

Remember that this is not ebay, and not everything is Arts Deco. Also, it's been a few years, and now so much is so "mid-century modern" that they think that's a term worth using in the first place and using enough to shorten to MCM. That's 1900, isn't it?

 

Sometimes a pen is a pen. And usually they aren't Deco. I do like the mentions of Eversharp Fifth Avenue and Coronet, and did anybody say Doric, and the Waterman Ink-Vue.

[fabri00]

The clip of all watermans of that period resemble the shape of empire state building.

Take the midel 513 as example of that.