Montegrappa Eternal Bird Sterling Silver Fountain Pen

 

 

 

On the tenth anniversary of the Limited Edition dedicated to the Dragon, Montegrappa is creating a valuable duo of oriental mythology by giving the Dragon its traditional companion, Eternal Bird: Feng Huang, the phoenix, the immortal bird which can rise reborn from its own ashes. Just as the dragon is the symbol of the Chinese emperor, the phoenix is actually the effigy of the empress. Today the symbol of rebirth and the individual spirit and always the symbol of the eternal death and rebirth of nature through the cycle of the seasons, the immortal bird appears with slight modifications in many far-flung transformations, through its constant association with the sun and with fire (its very name of "phoenix" derives from the Greek word meaning "red" and thus "fire") which finds one of its most exemplary expressions in the Firebird of Russian tradition.

 

 

 

 

Montegrappa has commissioned the same artist who ten years ago gave life to the Dragon to create the sculpture of the Eternal Bird. In creating the image of the phoenix which enhances this absolutely remarkable Limited Edition, the artist has been inspired by a Chinese painting of the 12th century, preserved in the National Museum in Beijing, where the immortal bird appears in company with the figure of a woman, thus emphasizing the strong female quality of this symbolic animal and its close association with the masculine side represented by the Dragon.

 

 

The decoration is executed using the sophisticated technique of die-casting, a technique of the highest craftsmanship of which Montegrappa has always been the master. From the original sculpture, whose creation took the artist many months to work, copies are cast in sterling silver; then, once they have been hand-finished by the master jewellers of Montegrappa, these are applied to the body and the cap of the pen. Each example of the Eternal Bird thus becomes an unrepentable work of art.

 

 

 

The die-casting in sterling silver is applied to the barrel and cap made of shining red celluloid, the color which pays tribute to the symbolism of the phoenix and which is repeated in the eyes of the bird, represented by two natural rubies. The sculpture which appears on the body of the pen is repeated in the engraving decorating the nib of the fountain pen version, which is fitted with the traditional piston filling mechanism.

 
 

 

The pairing of the Eternal Bird with its companion Dragon which was created ten years ago is underlined by numerous analogies. The pen's style and dimensions and the characteristics of the numbering engraved on the end part of the barrel are the same. The pen is presented in a precious wooden casket decorated in its turn with a medallion sculpted by the same artist. 

Also for the Eternal Bird, Montegrappa is offering, in parallel with the pen, a precious inkwell in a limited edition, sculpted with the appearance of the phoenix by the same artist who created the decoration of the pen.