Pontifex Maximus Lace Byakudan 2025 * Philosophical Instruments

 The Pontifex Maximus is the first fountain pen model. In Latin, Pontifex means "bridge-builder". Made in Belgium from Japanese ebonite and featuring a Japanese eyedropper filling system, this oversized fountain pen is a well balanced writing instrument and offers a generous canvas for urushi and maki-e artwork.

 The urushi fountain pens are created in collaboration with Urushi Atelier Netherlands, where a small team of highly skilled Japanese urushi artisans is led by Dave van Gompel, the only Western graduate of the lacquerware department of the prestigious Tokyo University of the Arts. The studio prides itself in using urushi exclusively and does not employ a mixture of natural and synthetic coatings.

 The combination of lace and urushi lacquer brings into being a timeless, refined and tactile combination of Western and Japanese arts & crafts.

 On the Lace Byakudan fountain pens, certified antique hand-made lace from Bruges is applied and covered with silver leaf and 100% urushi from Japan in the traditional byakudan-nuri method. A matte nashiji lacquer is used to obtain a deep golden glow. Top urushi layers are burnished to make the underlying and differently colored layers appear so as to reveal the lace. The use of lace, in this case pure linen, is reminiscent of the nuno-bari method – in which fabric is lacquered and intentionally left visible.

The number of fountain pens made with a particular lace design will be limited and vary depending on the availability of the antique lace used. For 2025, Lace Byakudan production is limited to two fountain pens.