Graf von Faber-Castell Pen of the Year
2006 with Mammoth ivory - Treasures from the permafrost
The first known man-made works of art
came about roughly 34,000 years ago. Carved with astonishing skill,
the figures represent predatory beasts, horses, and also the animal
that provided the prehistoric artists with this precious material
for jewellery, utensils, and sculptures: the mammoth. The curled
tusks of this primaeval elephant could be up to four metres long and
weigh as much as 150 kilos. The mammoths did not survive the last
ice age, but their ivory has remained preserved in all its beauty
for thousands of years, frozen in the pure ice of the permafrost
regions. It takes an expert eye to find this fascinating fossil
material in the six to eight weeks that the brief Siberian summer
lasts.
Even in antiquity, people were
fascinated by the brilliance of ivory. Alternating with the
near-black of ebony it produces a contrasting composition such as
characterizes the barrel of the Graf von Faber-Castell Pen of the
Year 2006. The shape and colouring are reminiscent of the keyboard
of a harpsichord or grand piano. In elaborate inlay work, little
plates of ivory are let into an ebony framework.
The crowning glory is the disc of ivory
in the end cap that protects the knob of the plunger mechanism. Its
polished outer surface reveals the typical texture of mammoth ivory,
the patterns by which a connoisseur can immediately tell it from
normal ivory. Inside is a stylized mammoth engraved with the
initials of the master craftsman Jürgen Schott as a guarantee that
the fossil ivory is genuine. The 18-carat bicolour gold nib is ‘run
in’ by hand. The spring-loaded metal clip ensures that the pen sits
firmly in the pocket.
Jürgen Schott is grand master of the
guild of ivory carvers in the Odenwald region near Heidelberg, an
association with 200 years of tradition and experience. The
elaborate craftsmanship and the use of natural materials mean that
every Pen of the Year 2006 is a unique work of art. Each one is
individually numbered and supplied in an exclusive ivory-coloured
wooden case together with a booklet and a certificate that it is one
of a limited edition. This bears the personal signature of the
master craftsman and attests the quality of the mammoth ivory used
for the barrel of the pen.
The Pen of the Year is a special
plunger-action fountain pen of magnum size, produced for just twelve
months. It combines exclusive materials such as snakewood, amber,
stingray leather, or in this case ivory, with the highest level of
craftsmanship. The natural materials and the unmistakable design
give rise to writing implements of timeless beauty and unusually
high value.
