An Elegant Writer - The Fountain Pen Network

19th February 2014
Press Release
An Elegant Writer
Vintage Pens With a Twist
A selection of over 100 of the most desirable pens for the connoisseur will be offered for sale by public
auction as part of Dreweatts & Bloosmbury Auctions Fine Watches and Fine Pens Sale on Wednesday 26th
March. All the most prominent pen brands are represented in the sale, with limited edition pens from the
Italian pen manufacturers including Ancora, Aurora, Visconti, Montegrappa and Omas, and prices to suit all
pockets, ranging from £100 – 20,000.
Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions have been working over the last three years to create a niche in the
European vintage pen market and have established themselves as the only international auction house to hold
specialist Fine Pens sales in the UK and Europe, with no other auction house holding specialist pens sales,
except in the USA.
The keystone of the sale is a significant quantity of modern limited edition pens by the master
of all pen manufacturers, Montblanc. Consigned from private collections throughout Europe
the selection includes a rare and extremely interesting Limited Edition Montblanc, Skeleton,
Charlie Chaplin, 88. The stunning instrument plays homage to the legendary comic actor,
Charlie Chaplin, and his on screen character Little Tramp. . Montblanc only made 88 Charlie
Chaplin fountain pens, making this one of the most sought after limited editions by collectors.
The 18 carat gold cog wheel design is evokes the machines present in one of his most
celebrated films, Modern Times, where the character Little Tramp fights for survival in the
industrialised world. The cap takes the form of the famous Chaplin bowler hat, depicting the
Montblanc emblem in mother of pearl, and the clip resembles his iconic walking cane.
Complete with Montblanc paperwork and the original case and outer-wrapping the pen is
estimated to sell for £15,000 – 20,000.
A private collection of excessively rare Montblancs features some of the most interesting pens
in the sale including an exquisite Limited Edition Joan Miro, 76 that has never been offered
for sale at auction before. Only 76 Joan Miro pens were made by Montblanc, adding to their allure for
collectors and connoisseurs.
The pen pays tribute to the exceptional Spanish artist and
invokes his unique surrealist style through the gold
swirling circles than encompass the blue lacquered body
of the pen. In a similar way to the Chaplin pen the gold
clip resembles a ladder, a re-occurring theme in much of
Press Release
19th February 2014
Miro’s work. The nib displays the artists signature and the iconic star from his Constellations series. Dotted
with gemstones and finished with the mother of pearl Montblanc logo on the cap the pen is estimated to sell
for £6000 - £8000.
From the same collection, a Montblanc, Skeleton, Antoni Gaudi from a limited edition of
128 is clearly inspired by the famous Modernist buildings, the Casa Batllo and the Casa
Milà. Situated in the heart of Barcelona these buildings are two of Spanish architect, Antoni
Gaudi’s most expressive masterpieces.
The pen conveys the playfulness of Gaudi’s architecture, the curved balconies of the Casa
Batllo surrounding the body of the pen and the mosaic dome of the Casa Milà creating the
cap. The nib o f the pen is engraved with the tower of a third Gaudi structure, The Sagrada
Famila.
Complete Montblanc paperwork and the original box and outer-wrapping, this pen is
estimated to sell for £7,000 – 9,000.
The highly collectable Montblanc 'Writers Series' of fountain pens is well represented with
examples of the Jules Verne, Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allen Poe. In addition, three pen sets
are available from the series and include the Agatha Christie, Mark Twain, Thomas Mann and Carlo Collodi
examples, with estimates for a single pen from £300. The highly collectible Montblanc 'Patron Of The Arts'
888 Series Limited
Editions are also represented with the most sought after pens including the Elizabeth I and Francois I
fountain pens, estimated at £2000 - 3000 each.
Elsewhere in the sale, a wide selection of affordable Parker Doufold's ,in various colours, includes a Limited
Edition Mandarin, estimated at £300 - 500, and a limited edition silver mounted Parker Snake fountain pen,
estimated at £500 - 700. Other collectable pens under £1000 include a Waterman blue pen for Boucheron,
estimated to sell for £600 – 800.
The auction will be held at their Donnington Priory Saleroom in Newbury, Berkshire, with public viewing in
the Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions London saleroom in the heart of Mayfair, in the week prior to the
sale. The catalogue will be available to view online at www.dreweatts.com
• Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions will be hosting a further sale of Vintage Fountain Pens at
Donnington Priory on Saturday 26th April, to include the contents of several private collections
already entered.
~Ends~
Press Release
19th February 2014
For More Information about Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions
Visit us at www.dnfa.com
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Notes
Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions are a UK 'top 5’ auctioneer of fine art and collectibles. As part of The Stanley
Gibbons Group PLC we are the only UK stock-exchange listed firm of auctioneers and occupy the same stable as coin
specialists Baldwin’s, and Apex Philatelics. Established in 1759, we have the broadest and most regular calendar of
specialist catalogued sales in the industry, numbering over 150 per annum, and provide vendors and buyers alike access
to market-leading specialist advice in any number of collecting fields. We operate from salerooms in Donnington
Priory (near Newbury), London’s Mayfair, Bristol and Godalming.
Established in 1856, The Stanley Gibbons Group PLC is the world’s leading rare stamp and prestige collectibles
merchant with offices in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Channel Islands. Holders of the Royal Warrant as philatelists since 1914 and AIM-listed in London, the Group is debt-free and has
shown consistent double-digit EBIT growth through the recent economic downturn in the UK and Europe.