This is a Yotsubishi Kawari-nuri sakura (cherry) bark pattern urushi coated fountain pen c. 1955-1959, shown open so the filler can be seen. The cap, barrel and section are all coated with urushi lacquer and finished with the sakura (cherry) bark pattern so that the artwork flows over the entire pen. Japanese cherry tree bark has a distinctive pattern and is featured in wooden objects, such as boxes, frames, and vases. The free form artwork on this pen is intended to recreate the pattern using the red urushi lacquer base and contrasting elements. Kawari-nuri is not considered a maki-e technique, but means free patterns, so the artist may decorate the urushi surface using new ideas including altering the surface with patterns, textures or swirls, adding colors, or other decorations outside traditional maki-e. Kawari-nuri artwork on pens is not likely to be signed by the artist. It is a squeeze type filler, possibly aerometric (which would require a feed tube), which dates the pen to the 1950s, following the design of the Parker 51 Aerometric. The trim is gold filler. The nib is a warranted 14 karat gold number 4 size nib. The pen is on the large size, at 5 1/4 inches long and quite broad. Ishi-Shoten, also known as Ishi & Co., was established in Tokyo in 1925 by pen maker Yoshinosuke Ishii. Following the lead of Pilot, who began making maki-e pens in the 1920s, Ishi-Shoten, though a small company with initially as few as ten workers, competed by making inexpensive maki-e pens. Ishi-Shoten used the four diamond trademark, yotsubishi in Japanese, and the mark can be found on the clip top on most pens. In reference materials, on the pens, and in catalogs, there are three spellings, Yotsubishi, Yotubisi, and Yotubishi. The company ceased operations in 1984. #pencollecting #fountainpen #yotsubishi #yotubisi #urushi #aerometric #parker51 #kawarinuri #makie #sakura #cherry #artpen #penhero https://www.instagram.com/p/B_qNshajyai/?igshid=44j4z1m3albu
