The Kingfisher Pen ?

January 3, 2006

Hello and Happy New Year.

I'm having difficulty trying to identify anything about this pen. I picked it up for $NZ 20 because the nib was stuffed. The nib only had Warrented 14ct on it. I have replaced with a nice flecxible Burnham nib I had spare and re-sac'd the pen. The barrel is marked The Kingfisher Pen", there are no other markings.

Can anyone add info to this ?.

January 4, 2006

I don't know anything about this, except there is nothing on FPN or Lion and Pen about a Kingfisher pen (except one note by Winedoc, but I think that is a Maki-e with a kingfisher design). It is not on the list of 600+ pen brands.

But I will hazard a guess - perhaps it is an obscure Mabie Todd brand - it looks like it is in that general realm, and it would fit with the bird theame of Mabie Todd (Swan, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Swallow). Maybe post on Pentrace or Lion and Pen and see if David Moak has heard of it.

Please let us know what you find.

John

January 4, 2006

Hi John,

I have a few Mabie Todds, Swans etc and I think you may be correct. The clip and lever are definitely very close as is the chased design and overall size, shape etc. It may be the low end "bird variation" ?.

Thanks

Gary

ps Writes very nicely with the Burnham nib and I'm not too fussed by not having original nib as many FPs had no name nibs to start with anyway.

January 4, 2006

Gary

My first thought was Mabie Todd, and it certainly looks like it. Maybe "Kingfisher" was an export brand, for the Empire trade?

Michael

speculating wildly, but very fond of kingfishers

January 5, 2006

Hi Folks,

I don't know anything about a Kingfisher by Mabie Todd. However, this pen does look like an English-made Blackbird. In the US, at the end of the company's production history, there were a couple of models made which were not marked as Mabie Todd, but which are nonetheless identifiable as their handywork through patents, etc. All the models with names, i.e. Kingfisher, however, also bear a Mabie Todd imprint somewhere. Other models made in the US for other companies had parts that were definitely standard MT parts but were left unmarked. They did have nibs marked Mabie Todd. So I can't answer definitively. The parts definitely look to be Mabie Todd, but it is unusual for there to be no markings which can positively identify it as such.

January 21, 2006

I've found out the answer. Michael Wright was on the right track. The pen was made by Swan for Australasia and is reasonably rare, there is also 'The Kiwi Pen" which is also hard to find.

Thanks all for your help.

Gary