Classic Pens LS Samurai Prototype c. 2001-2005

by Jim Mamoulides, March 15, 2024

Classic Pens LS Samurai fountain pen prototype c. 2001-2005

花は櫻木人は武士

Andreas Lambrou and Masa Sunami began their working relationship in 1980. Sunami helped write the Japanese chapter of Lambrou’s first book, Fountain Pens Vintage and Modern (1989) and translated the book into his native Japanese. Sunami also did research and photographs for the Japanese chapter of Lambrou’s book, Fountain Pens of the World (1995). Sunami was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1950 and He began collecting pens at the age of 12. He has written several books on fountain pens.

Lambrou and Sunami collaborated on custom pens and the first was the 1992 Tsugaru Maki-E Earth and Water designs produced by Pilot for Classic Pens. In 2000, they began collaborating on what would become the Lambrou Sunami LS Collection, a twelve pen series of art pens. Each design is signed with the Red Seal signature of the artist.

Classic Pens LS Samurai fountain pen prototype c. 2001-2005

The Lambrou Sunami LS Collection was launched in 2001 with artwork done on the Parker Duofold Centennial and a very small edition of about 15 pens in each successive design. The first was the LS1 Kirara (geometric) in 2001. The design comprises more than 1,000 individual strips of blue pearl and pure gold by Maki-E master Tatsuya Tōdō. The final pen in the series is the LS12 Shimarisu (chipmunks), released in 2004 with artwork by Maki-E master Shogetsu Mitani.

The Samurai design shown here is on a Pelikan fountain pen, a prototype for a proposed series of 15 pens. It was also prototyped on the Parker Duofold Centennial.

Classic Pens LS Samurai fountain pen prototype c. 2001-2005

The samurai of the pen appears in full armor, mounted on a white horse, and with his fully loaded personal attendant, carrying weapons and supplies, beside him. The samurai’s hakama (trousers) are decorated with large cherry blossoms, (sakura). The association of cherry blossoms and samurai appears in the Japanese proverb, 花は櫻木人は武士, Hana wa sakuragi, hito wa bushi, literally, “[In] flowers it's cherry blossoms, [in] men it's warriors,” meaning that each represents the best of their kind. As a background scene, the cap is decorated with a pheasant in front of several branches of leaves. The base pen was coated with urushi and sprinkled with gold dust to create the mottled shiny undercoat for the takamaki-e (raised maki-e) artwork.

The artwork on this pen is outstanding, but unsigned. Unfortunately, I don’t know the artist, or the date produced, but most likely the pen was made between 2001 and 2005.

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References

"Fantastic Fusion: East Meets West in LS Series" by Laura Chandler, a reprint by Classic Pens, Inc. from Pen World, Volume 17 Number 5 and Volume 18 Number 1, copyright © 2004 World Publications