Wednesday, June 19, 2013

A flashy taper


Pearl tapers on Victorian dip pens are common; abalone, much less so. And alternating pearl and abalone? This is the first example I can recall seeing.
While alternating pearl and abalone slabs were commonly applied to magic pencils and to fountain pens, for some reason it just wasn't done for tapers. Perhaps the work was just too tricky to shape the ends without unacceptable rates of chipping or breakage. In any event, I know I'll be handling this one carefully.


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