Designer Watches | Designer Pens

Pelikan Pens

The Pelikan company was founded by the German chemist Carl Hornemann in 1832; he started with a new factory in Hanover, Germany, since in those days there weren’t too many options for writing tools in Germany and all such items were imported. Carl Hornemann was the first to build a pen factory in Germany, and it is said that his father was the one to have encouraged him in pursuing his dream. The factory was finished and ready to produce six years later, so that in 1838 Hornemann’s Paint and Ink Factory began producing the first Pelikan pens. In the first years of activity, Hornemann prepared his ink eighteen miles away from the factory, which was very inefficient especially after the production raised significantly.

In 1842 the company extended, now integrating an ink facility inside the factory perimeter. Later on in 1863 a chief chemist named Gunther Wagner was hired as a plant manager and chief chemist, he is the one who took control over the company after Hornemann retired in 1871. In 1878 Wagner patented the company logo, and the symbol was a pelican which appeared on Wagner’s family emblem. Pelikan pens improved year by year, their quality was so appreciated that Wagner built another factory. A manufacturing extension was performed in 1881, and again another one in 1895 to support the growing demand for good, reliable pens.

By 1896 the Pelikan pens had the best ink on the market as none of their competitors could match their achievements. During the first two decades of the 20th century the Pelikan company developed incredibly fast, as they released new series of Pelikan pens and inks that were a real success. In just a couple of years new production space had to be brought to support the company’s growing needs. In 1912 Pelikan opened a shop that would last successfully until the 70s. With the growth of the production capacity, staff also increased in number so that in less than fifteen years they boomed from two hundred people to over a thousand.

In 1938 the company was close to four thousand employees and had production facilities from Europe to South America. After World War II and the German reconstruction Pelikan pens came back to the market’s attention with Pelikano a pen that will be a world wide success. Over the years after the invention of ballpoint pens the company slowly declined, it was bought by Condorpart, and later in 1995 Nucote, an American company took over the printing division. Since 1996 the company is controlled by the Hooi Keat Loo’s, a Malaysian company.

Pen and ink

Pen and ink is a method of drawing and writing at the same time, the pen is used instead of a brush and the ink can have various colors, even though the most popular one is black. The image might look like made up of several others, something like overlapping sketches. Pen and ink also stand for elegant writing and the art of calligraphy.

Calligraphy is known to be the art of beautiful writing, a modern definition would describe it as the artistic way of giving form and meaning to signs in a skillful manner. Various types of pens create different kinds of lines, some produce more delicate signs other have a broader nib to create a thicker mark.

Most artists consider the ballpoint pen and the fountain pen as being inadequate when used as artistic tools, since they are accused of lacking in sensitivity. The majority of pen and ink practitioners suggest the technique of quill pens for best possible results. Despite most appreciations there are many who use a simple ballpoint pen for a quick but rather modest sketch since it is not always possible to carry a pot of ink with you.

On the other hand, many technical pen and ink artists use the Rotring Rapidograph to draw lines of regular width and consistency and they use special ink created for the purpose. In the beginning, the pen was used more as a tool for illustrating a building, a natural corner or a person. Beginning with Robert Crumb in 1970, rapidographs have been the pens considered standard tools in the pen and ink drawings.

Between 1644 and 1912, the pen and ink art was one of the most appreciated, particularly in imperial China and Korea. The Arabic culture is in its turn profoundly based on pen and ink creations as with the rise of the Islam, representations of living beings was forbidden.

Some Arabic writers draw the letters in a way that would relate them to the live image but without representing them directly. The Hebrew and Aramaic calligraphy was also unique in its time and was considered a symbol until the 10th century when it reached its highest peak of development.

In the Western world, the first pen and ink artwork was the one from the Winchester and Canterbury manuscripts dated back to the 9th century; expressive figures and animals were represented in a beautiful way that amazes us even today. In the Georgian and Victorian times pen and ink was used primary for fast sketches during short spontaneous artistic moments.

George Romney was recognized as the first person who represented a person using an incredible small number of lines. In the 19th century, this European artist transformed the new pen and ink technique into a complete form of art.