Bakelite Fountain Pen With Japanese Cloisonne Shippoyaki Art

[TaizoOkagaki]

I just recovered from influenza but I am so excited to tell you a story that I also just told my friends on Facebook.

Around 15 years ago, Japanese Shippo artist 岡垣幸得 (Okagaki Yukie) presented me 2 big frames (1 of them is in second picture).

They are handmade with Japanese Cloisonne or 七宝焼 /shippoyaki/.

These two were supposed to be displayed in Museum but she chose to give to me.

At that time, I thought, how wonderful it is to have this art on a fountain pen. But honestly, it seemed impossible haha.

A few years later, that idea still hang over my head so I came back and talked with artist Yukie about this idea.

She said "I can make a small piece of shippoyaki, but it will be harder".

I was never more excited than that.

I spent many more years researching and testing how I can make a fountain pen with this precious art.

I tried with ebonite and plastic and celluloid but all failed. Ebonite didn't work out with piston filler mechanism I have, plastic was not a good idea for a traditional pen and celluloid is so hard to carve.

But finally there was one material that made my idea become possible, it is bakelite. It is rolled up from many layer of paper.

And it works best with piston filler.

But most importantly, I can carve the Shippoyaki on top of the pen for forever use.

Sadly, there are not many Shippo artists nowadays. I am already old and Master Yukie is also very old now but we really want to make this art continue.

I would never expect that a small idea of 15 years ago would turn out to be real now. I just want to say that if we try, there will be good result.

I feel thankful that master Yukie gave me this treasure.

In Japanese, Shippo is written as 七宝 which means Seven Treasures. So I call this fountain pen Seven Treasures.

Do you have any other name suggestion?

If you might want to read more, you can go here.

https://www.wancherpen.com/pages/shippoyaki

I have a giveaway of one prototype for one of those who help me fill a survey about this pen.

Please help if you also care about unusual arts and fountain pen.

Thank you very much again!

 

[jchch1950]

The japanese cloisonne art should be preserve and using it in fountain pens is a way to do it.

[TaizoOkagaki]

The japanese cloisonne art should be preserve and using it in fountain pens is a way to do it.

Thank you so much for your thought!

[Maurizio]

Beautiful.

 

I just took your survey

 

I hope this project is successful for the international fountain pen community and for the sake of the art and artisans.

Edited December 24, 2019 by Maurizio

[TaizoOkagaki]

Beautiful.

 

I just took your survey

 

I hope this project is successful for the international fountain pen community and for the sake of the art and artisans.

That's very thoughtful of you. Thank you very much!

[Toll]

What a wonderful story and such masterworks in hand 15 years later. They are beautiful pens and I can think of no better name than Seven Treasures. Congratulations on this artistic collaboration!

[jandrese]

Great story. The combination of Shippo and pens looks good. I have a Seiko wristwatch with a Shippo enamel dial that is very beautiful. Fantastic art form.

[TaizoOkagaki]

What a wonderful story and such masterworks in hand 15 years later. They are beautiful pens and I can think of no better name than Seven Treasures. Congratulations on this artistic collaboration!

Thank you so much!

[TaizoOkagaki]

Great story. The combination of Shippo and pens looks good. I have a Seiko wristwatch with a Shippo enamel dial that is very beautiful. Fantastic art form.

Thank you! That watch must be beautiful!

[AGxM]

I have bitten the bullet on this ..... long wait until December for the gold nib, but by then my wallet would have forgotten about it and so no biggie!

[TaizoOkagaki]

I have bitten the bullet on this ..... long wait until December for the gold nib, but by then my wallet would have forgotten about it and so no biggie!

Thank you!

[rutherfordr]

Who makes the "Wancher 18K gold nib"?

 

Is it a Jowo gold nib?

[dapprman]

Who makes the "Wancher 18K gold nib"?

 

Is it a Jowo gold nib?

In-house (think they bought an existing small nib manufacturer in Japan)

[whichwatch]

 

But finally there was one material that made my idea become possible, it is bakelite. It is rolled up from many layer of paper.

 

 

 

 

The pen is lovely, but I have a question about the material for the body. I knew of bakelite as a thermosetting resin from when we used it to mount metal samples for microscopic examination. According to Wikipedia:

"Bakelite or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride was the first plastic made from synthetic components. It is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. It was developed by the Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, New York, in 1907."

So is the body perhaps rolled layers of paper infused with this resin which is cured with heat and pressure?

I have not seen the shippoyaki treatment before, and it appears quite beautiful. I wish you good luck with this project.

 

 

[TaizoOkagaki]

 

 

 

The pen is lovely, but I have a question about the material for the body. I knew of bakelite as a thermosetting resin from when we used it to mount metal samples for microscopic examination. According to Wikipedia:

"Bakelite or polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride was the first plastic made from synthetic components. It is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. It was developed by the Belgian-American chemist Leo Baekeland in Yonkers, New York, in 1907."

So is the body perhaps rolled layers of paper infused with this resin which is cured with heat and pressure?

I have not seen the shippoyaki treatment before, and it appears quite beautiful. I wish you good luck with this project.

 

 

 

Thank you so much!!

You are almost correct about our material. It is rolled layers of paper and cotton soaked in this resin and then treated with heat and pressure to form the final material.

That's why on the bring color of bakelite pen, you can see the hairline finish.

 

I appreciate your compliment about shippoyaki. I know it is not popularly known in the world but I hope i bring this art to more people this time. It' precious and feel great to see in person.