Pelikan Renjjishi Maki-e

Pelikan Renjjishi Maki-e

Renjishi Kabuki is a traditional Japanese form of theatre. Its origin is said to be from a series of performances by Izumono Okuni in Kitano Tenmangu in 1603 (the beginning of the Edo era).
These performances became very popular in Kyoto, and for the last four hundred years have been established as a point of Japanese pride for traditional art.
More recently, Kabuki has become popular abroad as well.
The tale of Renjishi was written by Mokuami Kawatake based upon the moral story in which a parent pushes his children down into the bottomless valley with the intention of raising only those who are able to run back up from the valley.
This story is regarded as the representative piece of Kabuki dancing, and truly touches the audience’s heart as it is performed by a real parent and son.
The climax of this performance is painted on the Pelikan fountain pen “Renjishi”, where the white-haired parent and the red-haired child dance together wildly as a perfect match.
Maki-e is a traditional Japanese technique to create ornamental lacquer ware, and this technique was used to illustrate the “Renjishi”.
In Maki-e, designs are drawn with lacquer using a special brush. Then gold foil, gold and silver powder are sprinkled or stuck onto the design.
This careful and time-consuming process is repeated many times in order to give depth to the designs.
In 1929, Pelikan registered the patent for the piston mechanism, a new fountain pen filling system.
This technique, refined and updated, is still used today. The Pelikan fountain pen “Renjishi” is a masterpiece with a finely-chased 18 carat gold nib accentuated with a rhodium décor.
The Pelikan logo on the crown, limited edition number and artist’s signature are drawn in by hand with the Maki-e technique. With the honed experience of decades and excellent craftsmanship, the impressive fountain pen model Souveraen 1000 is produced in Germany and then decorated in Japan, thus creating a perfectly crafted product that is more than the sum of each part... a little bit of magic has slipped into it...
The fountain pens are encased together as a set in a traditional Japanese gift box which is made of Paulownia wood.
The “Renjishi”, released in the year 2010, is available in a limited edition of only 88 pieces worldwide.