Glastonbury Abbey is located in southern Britain and is recognized as a very early Christian holy site. Among other things, it is told that Joseph of Arimathea visited the site in the early days of the first century A.D. during one of his many trips through Britain and France in connection with the tin trade. (It is also told that he had in his company a young boy, very bright and even precocious, who amazed those he met. That is, of course, a story for another pen.) The legend of Joseph’s trip continues that he drove his staff into the ground, and that it was from that spot that the Glastonbury Thorn did grow. The Thorn blossoms twice annually, once in the spring before the new growth comes on, and then again in the autumn late in the year. It is a symbol of constant renewal and hope. To this day, the Glastonbury Thorn is considered a holy tree, and a bough from the tree is delivered by a child of the kingdom to the reigning monarch at Buckingham Palace every year on Christmas Day. Sadly, this will be the first time in seventy years that the bough will not be received by HRM Queen Elizabeth.
The Glastonbury site is also of special consequence, as it is the burial site of Arthur and Guinevere. An ancient stone marks the spot, and an oaken tomb has been unearthed which dates appropriately with the stories of Arthurian legend. Interestingly, Glastonbury was known anciently as “Avalon.”
The Glastonbury Abbey Pen reflects the stories of the site most notably with the hand cut thorn branches and five-petal blossoms that adorn the cap and body. Gothic windows in the cap with transparent red “stained glass” are situated between buttresses so that the nib can be seen when the pen is capped. In keeping with the style of medieval brass tomb plates, the body also includes figures of Arthur and Guinevere. A red Maltese-style Templar cross in high-temp glass enamel, and a decorated nib featuring a fleur-de-lis are Templar symbols added in deference to the generations of people who found hope in the promise of the grail legends, or the search for “Holy Blood.”
Structurally, the nickel silver metalwork on the pen, all handcrafted, is built up on black acrylic with a red resin cap sleeve. A JoWo #6 broad nib and converter fill system complete the function of the pen.
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I set about early sketches with few parameters in mind. I knew only that I wanted to incorporate a fantasy theme with a Late Middle Ages flavor. Symbols, characters, ornamentation – it was really an exercise in design with no other purpose than to relax and apply old and new skills in a different fashion.
The first material decision was to find a rod that would have special features unto itself while not drawing too much attention from the metal work. The base material for the pen was selected entirely for color. The “Triple Black” resin rod material by Jonathon Brooks allowed for a dark contrast against the ideas I had for the metal fittings, while still offering subtle variations that nearly take on quiet wood grain appearance and with a beauty all its own.
As sketches for the art of the pen evolved, structure of the metal parts was the next concern. For many of my more extensive builds, I commonly assemble parts by soldering them together while flat, and then forming the assemblage into a cylinder. That process presents several difficulties, not the least of which being the equidistant placement of components where any sort of symmetry is required for the design. In this case, I decided to use a sleeve of nickel made on the lathe for both the cap and the body, as it allowed for more even placement of ornamentation in the round. (Making these sleeves was more a test of my machining skills than anything else – each sleeve has a wall of less than half a millimeter, or about the thickness of a matchbook cover. Suffice to say that it took more than one attempt.) In the end, this helped evenly place the four heraldic charges around the cap sleeve and the three dragons around the body sleeve of the pen.
Once the other details were established, the finishing touches of the design – while still in keeping with the theme – included a seven-spire, crown-style finial on the cap with a three-spiral inset, and a black obsidian cabochon in a setting with seven prongs to match the cap for the end of the body. These components (and the sleeves on cap and body) are all set apart with sculpted bronze and black resin rings (rings also present on the section of the pen) and completed with a black plated nib. Not including the nib unit and converter, the pen includes about fifty pieces of material in all.
As the pen began to take shape, the idea of a pen cradle crept into discussions with my son in the shop every morning before work. It was finally decided that a throne to fit the pen theme would best suit the purpose. The cradle is constructed of only four pieces of material. The interior back, seat, and throne front are a single piece of nickel cut from sheet. The sides and exterior back are another cut piece of sheet. Then “C-channel” material was formed from sheet as curved sleeves over the arms. Once soldered and formed, the throne was acid etched to achieve the patterns and textured for detail.
As the throne design took life (which included a slate platform on an oak base), other accoutrements came to mind and found their way into the set. A blotter (oak and bronze), an inkwell (vintage glass inkwell with bronze), and letter opener (nickel, Damascus steel and faux ivory). All of these were then added to a slate base desk stand. The metal work details were carried from pen to the other accessories and include the bronze three-point florals and an emphasis on “seven” (as seen on the handle of the blotter), and “three” (three-point spiral repeated on the ink well cap.
As “pen” became “complete desk set,” I was confronted with a scheduling complication. Weeks had turned into months – six months, start to finish, and the submission deadline for the annual Pen Artisan Guild suddenly crept up on me. Having no other special pen to submit or time to make one, I offered the “Battle of Kings” pen as my entry in the 2021 contest. I am pleased to say that the pen was awarded the Best of Show award for the contest in June of 2021 – my “Secret Garden Pen” won the award in 2020, so we were twice as thrilled to win with this pen.
We welcome serious inquiries about this one-of-a-kind desk set. Select “Contact Us” for additional information.
]]>The Companion was designed with one simple goal - to offer a new pen with the same high quality but at a lower price point. Built in our Style 28 straight profiles, the Companion features a sterling silver roll-stop that carries our logo.
We did two things to lower the price. First, we are making multiple pens in the same blank materials in a single run - this cut down on material wastage. We are also posting those pens of the same material as a single website entry with stock photos. This had a distinct impact on the amount of time it takes to photograph, photo edit, and do website updates. Each of the popular handmade blanks we use vary slightly, but the stock photos still give a great flavor for the color and style of the materials. This time savings means a lower price for this new model.
We wanted to offer a pen that you could take anywhere, and we think the Companion model helped us accomplish that very thing. It's made to carry anywhere and priced so you can carry two.
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