The floating clouds painted on the ceiling of the Izumo Shrine are
used as the motif on the Platinum Izumo Yakumo Byakudan.
Starting with
an ebonite cap and barrel, gold leaf is first applied to the entire
surface. A sea of clouds is then painted around
the pen with silver
powder and kinsunago (gold dust) is spread throughout as an accent.
Additional floating clouds are then
painted in brightly colored urushi:
red, green, and orange. To accentuate the design, the outlining has been
drawn in silver.
Lastly, multi-layers of sukiurushi (transparent
lacquer) are applied as the finish. Over time, the sukiurushi becomes
increasingly
more transparent, allowing the design to appear more
vibrant and vivid. Each piece created using maki-e is hand-finished by
skilled artisans using an amazing number of processes combined with
traditional artistic techniques taking many weeks and months to
complete.
The Platinum Yakumo Byakudan features the large 18k, two-tone gold
nib
Each Platinum Izumo fountain pen is packaged in a wooden box with a pen kimono and includes a single cartridge and converter.