OT: The Wedgwood House

This is completely unrelated to fountain pens, but it’s an interesting tale which I thought I would share.

I collect Wedgwood Jasperware, and I maintain a small website about it. A fellow Wedgwood collector contacted me recently, wondering if I could advise paint colours which matched the colours Wedgwood have used in the Jasper range. The reason? They wish to paint the interior of their house in those colours.

A modern-day redux perhaps of the work of Scottish architect Robert Adam, amongst others, who inspired Josiah Wedgwood with their lavish Neoclassical interiors in the first place...Luckily, I could assist, and have provided the most accurate colour information that I could determine, based upon the PANTONE® system.
I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product. :)

Japanese Pens

Picked up a couple of nice Japanese pens recently - three Platinum pens from the 1970's, and one Pilot pen from the 1950's.

I am particularly interested in the Pilot, which is a lever-filler with a flexible steel nib. My Sailor eyedropper has a flexible steel 'Shiro' nib, which is quite wonderful, so I am hoping the Pilot nib will be similar.

Sailor Sapporo!

I finally got a Sailor Sapporo! Well, I got two actually, a Sapporo and a Sapporo Mini:
Perfect little pens with wonderful 14K EF nibs. :D

Acquisitions!

The drought (of pen buying) has broken. This last week I was up to my old tricks, buying duplicates from collectors, and scouting around eBay. Some nice pens were had:

• Radius - Italian, 1940's ladies button-filler. Brown marbled celluloid, 14K Flexible F nib.
• Sheaffer Valiant - Snorkel. Fern Green, 14K Triumph F nib.
• Pilot Custom 98 - Deep Yellow, 14K EF nib.
• Duchessa (Montegrappa sub-brand) - Italian, 1930's ladies button-filler, NOS. Pink marbled celluloid. 14K Flexible F nib.

An interesting little lot... :)

Nib Customizations

I don't think I've mentioned what work Richard will be doing on the pens I've sent him, so this a breakdown:

Brand	Model	Customization
Jean-Pierre Lepine Jean-Pierre Lepine Lamy Omas Omas Omas Montegrappa Pelikan Pelikan Pelikan	Attila Indigo Lady Celluloid Princess Celluloid Princess Celluloid Princess Micra M400 M300 M250	0.3 Stub XXXF 0.3 Cursive Italic XXXXF 0.3 Stub XXXF XXXF XXXF 0.3 Crisp Italic 0.3 Stub

I can hardly wait to write with them. :)

Ink!!!

My inks finally arrived from Pendemonium! Nine delicious colours:

- Diamine Umber
- Noodler's Russian Chekhov
- Noodler's Russian Dostoyevsky
- Noodler's Russian Pushkin
- Noodler's Apache Sunset
- Noodler's Golden Brown
- Private Reserve Burgundy Mist
- Rohrer & Klingner Fernambuk
- Rohrer & Klingner Morinda

...plus some Red Platinum cartridges and some silicon grease to use on my Sailor Eyedropper, which has a point-section leak.

Very pleased with all the colours except Diamine Umber and Noodler's Dostoyevsky. Umber was touted as a Pelikan Moss Green alternative, which is so not true. Moss Green was a yummy olive shade, while Umber is just a forest green. Meanwhile, Dostoyevsky looks like a slightly faded Sheaffer Turquoise. Boring.

Rohrer & Klingner Morinda and Private Reserve Burgundy Mist are my favourites from the bunch. :)

Samples and such posted here (FPN).

More Paper

A couple of weeks ago I posted about Original Crown Mill Stationery, an extremely nice paper I was able to buy locally. The quality is comparable with G. Lalo, which is great; because that was the paper I most wished I could buy here in AU. While I can buy Crane & Co., it's very expensive.

I ordered a couple more OCM A5 pads in Cream today, and some C6 Cream envelopes with different tissue linings - Chocolate, Bordeaux, Kraft, Bamboo and Navy. Yummy!

Pen & Ink Updates

I have been advised by Pendemonium that the Diamine Umber shipment may finally be arriving. It's been a few months now, nearly four, I think. Damn Diamine.

I've rationalised the number of pens I had inked, and I'm down to eight. Once the Pendemonium inks arrive that amount will easily double, so I might have to trim the current number to five or so...

My writing box restoration is going splendidly. The box has cleaned up very well and I'm in the middle of re-papering the inside compartments with a sedate charcoal-coloured paper. It’s looking really neat and tidy now. :)

Lastly, I've ordered another two Pilot 78Gs from HisNibs, as well as two Hero 329s. I love those F nibs on the Pilot 78G - they are perfection. I'll have every colour now: Teal, Red, Dark Green and Black. :)

A Writing Box

I recently picked up a small ladies writing box, which I plan to restore a little so that it displays nicely. It’s not the type of writing box which opens back to create a sloped surface, but rather one which opens to a small tablet for writing which then folds back into the lid to reveal the compartments beneath.

The box is from around 1840, appears to be made from mahogany and the top of the box is inset with a floral tooled leather design. It’s not a valuable item, and has certainly seen better days. All the compartments are present, though a couple of dividers have come loose. The compartments are lined with an unattractive paper, which I hope to remove or replace. The glass inkwell with a brass cap is present. The bottom compartment is a correspondence drawer divided in two, with one side marked Answered and the other side marked Unanswered.


Now, to read up on how to safely clean leather, and find out what type of paper is best to line the compartments with...

OMG 2007 !!!

Yes, 2007 is upon us.

(How horrifying! Where have the years gone?!? My life is passing me by at a great rate of knots! I remember my 21st like it was yesterday, dammit!)

But, enough panicking. What's new in pendom?

1. Original Crown Mill Stationery. I picked up a pad and envelope set from this Belgium paperier just before Christmas and I love it. It is cream laid paper with a beautiful texture and feel. Currently I have the classic correspondence set in Grey. OCM is also available in A5 pads, which is what I prefer, because pads vs. sheets are much better value. Also, they offer C6 envelopes in Cream with your choice of 21 different coloured linings. Excellent stuff.
2. Richard Binder. I have finally sent my 10 pens to Richard for nib customizations. The wait will be awhile, but it will be so worth it. :)