FOUNTAIN
PEN
Visconti honours the Italian
poet, Dante Alighieri, and his masterwork, La Divina Commedia. The
limited edition fountain pen is crafted in vintage ivory celluloid with
intricate scrimshaw. Depicting scenes of Dante's visits to heaven and
hell, the scrimshaw barrel is accented with 18K solid pinkgold,
including the angel-shaped clip.
Dante Alighieri was born in
1265, and served the city state of Florence until 1301, when he was
exiled from Florence as a result of one of the Byzantine twists and
turns of politics during those troubled times. His most famous of works,
the Divine Comedy, was begun around 1306, and finished shortly before
his death in 1321.
La Divina Commedia is a
three part poem, detailing the passage of Dante through Purgatory, Hell,
and Heaven. Purgatorio, Inferno, and Paradiso are each divided into
thirty three cantos. This work is considered to be a landmark in Western
literature, and has been translated form the original Italian into many
other languages.
Visconti has chosen some
great materials and techniques for use with this pen, the result is very
evocative of Dante's writing. The Divina Commedia is made from a small
stock of 1960s vintage celluloid, in an ivory white color. It's a neat
celluloid, almost a woodgrain pattern of slightly lighter and darker
shades of an off-white color. When viewed from a distance, it does look
like aged ivory.
The celluloid is further
enhanced with a wonderful scrimshawed illustration on both the cap and
barrel, depicting scenes from the Inferno in fine detail. The trim on
this pen is solid gold, the very ornate clip depicts an angle, and there
is a heavy relief band that encircles the barrel at the ink view window.
Aside from the material, and
the decoration, the Divina Commedia has a 18K nib with Double Reservoir
system, which uses a plunger vacuum style filler to fill the barrel with
ink.
18K Solid Gold Nib
