Product description
The new MOUKO fountain pen available in a limited quantity of 500 pieces, features the 21K gold KOP Naginata Togi nib and a stately body crafted with the colored ebonite “Chirashi (scattering)” technique. The annual release of our coveted colored ebonite series this year is MOUKO, meaning ferocious tiger, and is inspired by a masterpiece of traditional Japanese art as with past models.
The idea for MOUKO was derived from “Tiger” , a painting by Jakuchu Ito. Sailor lavishly and intricately layered multiple coats of colored ebonite onto the fountain pen’ s body, in the image of the vivid hues and the beautiful contrast of brownish-yellow and black that gave Jakuchu’ s tiger a pronounced appearance.
Engraved with a serial number, and with the characteristics of the ebonite, each piece is unique. You won’ t find the same anywhere in the world. Indulge in the pleasing fit of MOUKO fountain pen’ s ebonite body in your hand, and cherish its beauty as you enjoy an exclusive writing experience with our rare Naginata Togi nib.
Jakuchu Ito (1716 – 1800)
Born in Kyoto as the eldest son of a family in the produce wholesale business at Kyoto’ s Nishiki-koji, he became committed to painting and Zen Buddhism. At the age of 40, he turned the family business over to his younger brother to dedicate himself to painting.
He first studied the Kano style of art but felt the need to incorporate more elements, and went on to study on his own, polishing his skills by reproducing ancient decorative paintings from China’ s Yuan and Ming dynasties as well as Japan’ s Korin style of art. He also trained in sketching flora and fauna and was particularly skilled in portraying barnyard fowl. He is renowned for works that took existing art styles and distorted them into fantastical and descriptive expressions.
“Tiger” was painted by Jakuchu as a reproduction of “Ferocious Tiger” by Chinese artist, Li Gonglin (belonging to Kyoto Shodenji Temple’ s collection). Although “Tiger” is a reproduction, it possesses characteristics different from the original. The hairs on the tiger in the original are meticulously painted one by one with brownish-yellow paint, while Jakuchu painted his “Tiger” by adding fine lines with ink on a background of brownish-yellow paint, highlighting the contrast between the yellow and black parts more clearly than the original. Jakuchu also used ink to create an outline, giving the tiger a more pronounced silhouette.
Sailor developed the MOUKO fountain pen, paying attention to the detailed color tones and contrast seen in the “Tiger” painting, and arrived at the tiger stripes pattern in the image of Jakuchu’ s powerful contrast between black and yellow. They have also leveraged an attractive white, a color that the “Chirashi” ebonite technique makes possible.
