The Duke 'confucius' Art Fountain Pen

[ajoe]

Full Disclosure

Last week, Bertram's Inkwell offered to sell three FPN members a Duke Art Pen for $50 in exchange for a review to be posted here at FPN. I am very grateful that Bertram's Inkwell offered this deal, as I have been intrigued by the various bent-nib pens but was reluctant to pay hundreds of dollars without first using one. So, for me, this deal provides an extended trial to see if this type of pen is useful for both art and normal writing.

 

http://mrnibs.com/duke/DukeBox.JPG

 

 

Executive Summary

The Duke "Confucius" Art Pen is a high quality well-presented fountain pen that performs as promised for pen and ink drawings. While some may find it works well for general writing, I find it offers no benefits over conventional fountain pens except its abilities for extreme line variation.

 

http://mrnibs.com/duke/DukeInBox.JPG

 

 

Basics

The Duke Confucius Art Pen is a fountain pen made of a unique material and sporting a unique (patented) nib. It arrives in a black cardboard box containing a cloth-covered wood box which holds the paperwork, a bottle of black ink, and the pen. It is made in China and all of the included documentation is in Chinese.

 

This pen is large and heavy, weighing in at 64g (filled). The image below shows the Duke Art Pen between a Pelikan M1005 (left) and a Sheaffer Legacy (right) for size comparison. Unposted, the pen seems comfortable and well-balanced.

 

http://mrnibs.com/duke/DukeCompare.JPG

 

 

While I have experience with paint brushes and drawing pens, a multi-angle art fountain pen is a totally different tool. I can imagine that some artists will take to it enthusiastically, while others may not.

 

Gauging its performance against other fountain pens reveals it to be an excellent well-constructed pen. The nib is very smooth with huge line variation and the ink flow self-adjusts as needed without ever being too dry or too wet. For this review, I used only the ink provided with the pen.

 

http://mrnibs.com/duke/DukeParts.JPG

 

 

Materials

The pen has a bamboo body, black Chinese lacquer cap, and steel nib. The silver-colored clip and trim are decorated with a stylized design of the Great Wall. The silver ring above the section is marked "KING CROWN" and "551-1". All of the surfaces are highly polished and have the feel and appearance of quality craftsmanship. The bamboo is said to symbolize long life in Chinese tradition.

 

http://mrnibs.com/duke/DukeWriting.JPG

 

 

Filling System

The filling mechanism is a cartridge/converter. One very large cartridge is included with the pen. The converter is pre-installed.

 

The included ink has a dispenser nozzle that is designed to fill the converter when removed from the pen. Similarly, you could use the dispenser bottle to refill the cartridge. I don't believe it would be possible to fill the converter in the conventional manner using the included ink bottle, but conventional filling should work with ink bottles designed with larger mouths.

 

Nib

The nib is especially interesting and a distinctive feature of this pen, with a curved tip, called an 'ink collection plate', which allows a wide variety of application techniques. With the pen held normally, but at a low angle, the entire soul of the collection plate will contact the paper for the broadest possible line. The pen can be used in both the convention feed-down and feed-up position, and will write continuously while rotating the pen 360 degrees while drawing a line.

 

http://mrnibs.com/duke/DukeNib.JPG

 

 

Use

Over the course of two days, this pen performed flawlessly. It never failed to start the moment it touched paper and the ink flow was always predictable given the variances in pen angle. In many respects, this pen reminds me of a Sumi-e brush, where the angle, rotation, and pressure of the pen provide myriad results. Of course, the usefulness of such a pen is limited to the technical skill of the artist.

 

Using the pen in the upside-down (feed up) position was predictable and consistent similar to other a fine/medium nib pens. However, using the 'ink collection plate' with the pen in the conventional (feed down) position proves more challenging. I do not see this as a flaw in the pen, but rather as the learning curve required.

 

http://mrnibs.com/duke/DukeDraw.JPG

 

 

Conclusion

I am not sure how the Duke pen will fit into my daily toolkit for writing and drawing. I doubt it will replace any of my traditional fountain pens for writing, but may well be useful pen & ink drawing. The fact that it can be kept ever-ready and loaded with may be a convenient option to working with brush and ink.

 

There is no doubt that these pens, in the hands of a skilled artist could produce some stunning work.

 

Bertram's currently sells this pen for $100. A quick web search proved that to be the best price currently available.

Edited February 28, 2012 by ajoe

[bertramsinkwell]

Allen,

 

Thank you so much for your lightning fast review of this product. We hope you continue to enjoy the pen!

 

Tyler

[testrider]

Thanks for the review. This is interesting. But the concept of the nib seems similar to Pilot's triangular ZOOM nib, just different implementation...

[Uncle Red]

Thanks for the review and great writing samples.

[kcoen52]

Very interesting pen and nib. Looks like a great artists tool!

[requiescat]

I now know what I want my next fountain pen to be. Thanks for the lovely review.

[opus7600]

This pen is large and heavy, weighing in at 64g (filled). The image below shows the Duke Art Pen between a Aurora Optima (L) and a Sheaffer Legacy ® for size comparison. Unposted, the pen seems comfortable and well-balanced.

 

Your Aurora Optima looks shockingly similar to my Pelikan M1005...

[ajoe]

This pen is large and heavy, weighing in at 64g (filled). The image below shows the Duke Art Pen between a Aurora Optima (L) and a Sheaffer Legacy ® for size comparison. Unposted, the pen seems comfortable and well-balanced.

 

Your Aurora Optima looks shockingly similar to my Pelikan M1005...

 

OMG, thanks for the correction.

 

That is a Pelikan 1005. The Aurora Optima is much smaller.

[jandrese]

Thanks for the good review. This is maybe the only Chinese pen that I kind of like. Sailor has a cheap caligraphy pen with a similar nib, and a high end special nib called Naginata Fude de Mannen that is also similar.

[bertramsinkwell]

Again, thank you for this review. We did the special ( and currently have ONE LEFT) for this exact reason - to get the word out on such a unique pen. You did an awesome job doing just that. Check out in Market Watch the offer for the special if anyone is interested!

 

Thanks again!

 

 

Tyler

[richardandtracy]

There are cheaper ways of getting a nib like this: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/206771-kaigelu-300-calligraphy-pen/

 

I suspect the pen will be of limited normal use, even though the body etc is rather nice, simply because the nib is not easy to use for normal writing.

 

Nice review though, thanks.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[APHK]

I like the box An even cheaper way of getting this type of pen is to make your own - I made mine from a Noodler's Flex. Has same effect.

[requiescat]

@RichardandTracy: the Kaigelu 300 also intrigues me, but I can't seem to find a seller that actually has the thing in stock. (isellpens.com is out of them?)

[bertramsinkwell]

Kaigelu 300 is also a cool pen, but the nib isnt the same technology. The ink collecting plate makes a world of difference.

[Sailor Kenshin]

As a collector of fude (from Sailor, Bookworm, Hero, Kaigelu, etc), I find this pen intriguing. Good looks, nice variation on a theme.

[richardandtracy]

@RichardandTracy: the Kaigelu 300 also intrigues me, but I can't seem to find a seller that actually has the thing in stock. (isellpens.com is out of them?)

I've had a look too. You are right, there don't seem to be any available at the moment. Last summer, when my wife got hers, they seemed to be everywhere.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[richardandtracy]

Kaigelu 300 is also a cool pen, but the nib isnt the same technology. The ink collecting plate makes a world of difference.

Intriguing. Wonder if it's because of the straight section on the bent up tip rather than the continuous curve on the Kaigelu.

Wish I could see a need to get such an interesting & attractive pen.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[bertramsinkwell]

Haha yes the famous argument with one's self about the need of a new pen. I definitely needed my m1005 when I already had the m1000 :ltcapd:

 

Tyler

[den_lim]

I got this pen off a seller on ebay.

I loved it so much I got another.

 

Here's a sketch using Lamy Black

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7056/6869508231_8d41550f00.jpg

[den_lim]

I got this pen off a seller on ebay.

I loved it so much I got another.

 

Here's a sketch using Lamy Black

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7056/6869508231_8d41550f00.jpg

 

Please note that the nib has THREE tines instead of two. It reminds me of the Platinum music nib.