Sơn Mài - Palace Roof

Important Note: Son Mai is an extremely complicated and painstaking process where every single step, from scratch to finish, is handled by hands. Therefore, distinctive traces such as dots, brush traits, or uneven surfaces, can be observed in the final product. This unique characteristic is an aesthetic factor of Son Mai, making each pen an one-of-a-kind artwork of your own.

About Son Mai

Son Mai (Sơn Mài) painting is made with lacquer created from resin of Cay Son (Cây Sơn) tree (known as Rhus succedanea) grown in Phu Tho, Vietnam. In this technique, many layers of lacquer are applied, left to dry, and polished over many months or even a year. Precious decoration materials such as gold, silver, seashells, or eggshells are also used together in the application process.

However, what makes this technique so different from others is the Mài - grounding step. In Son Mai, the final image is fully revealed only after the lacquer layers are ground back. Therefore, the work of making Son Mai is unpredictable, arduous yet rewarding if the artist is persistent until the end.

About Artist Phan Hong Thuan

Starting the journey with Son Mai since when still being a college student, Phan Hong Thuan is one of the very few young artists in Vietnam choosing to follow this path. In 2005, Phan Hong Thuan graduated from Hue University of Arts and has been practicing to master Son Mai since then. Starting with a small gallery in Pho Tay, Hue, Phan Hong Thuan now owns a huge collection of unique Son Mai paintings of various styles.

Phan Hong Thuan's Son Mai work tends to re-express this historic traditional craft in an unexpected style that has a closer connection to today's world while still strictly follow the principles of Son Mai's making process.

Collection: The Vietnamese Soul

Inspired by Hue's imperial architectural decorative arts, The Vietnamese Soul is a series dedicated to the development of traditional art throughout Vietnam's history. Each edition depicts not only splendid colors of Vietnam's landscapes but also the flow of times through the eyes of an artist who represents the young generations in Vietnam.

Every single fountain pen in this collection is crafted with the original idea and imagination of artist Phan Hong Thuan. They are limited to only 1 piece each and will never come back in the future.

Specifications

Base material: Wood

Art: Son Mai

Filling mechanism: Converter or Cartridge (European International Standard)

Nib: #6 Jowo stainless steel, Wancher 18K gold

Feed: Plastic, ebonite black, ebonite red

Size & Shape

Length: 140.5 mm (with cap), 127 mm (without cap)

Diameter: 13.5 mm (max)

Weight: 23 g (with cap), 10 g (without cap)

Packaging

Traditional Japanese Wooden Box + Pen Kimono + Instructional Materials + Converter + Cartridge