You are looking at Danitrio's Fabulous Maki-e "Shuten-doji" Fountain Pen. The pen is based on Danitrio's new Genkai size pen. The pen is new and uninked complete with presentation box and paper. The pen is big, it is a tad bigger than the Namiki Emperor. Only 20 pens are made world wide. The pen is done by master Maki-e artist, Mr. Koichiro Okazaki whom was the featured artist at 2005 Washington DC Pen Show. He holds the title of "Dento Kogei-shi".
The art work is 100% hand done with complicated Shishiai-Takamaki-e. Notice the eyes of the Demon are made of tiny pieces of egg shells and blue turban snail shells. The katana is again done with pieces of blue turban snail shells. Please see my attempt at collage photo bellow for detail. This is one of Japan's most famous Oni tale. If you are tired of the mundane Maki-e of flowers and birds, here is your chance to own a big and bold Maki-e. This maki-e is not for the faint of heart!
The story of "Shuten-doji":
Greek have mythology, while Japanese have "Oni" or Demon. And the pen is based on the one of the legend.
Now, on to the story. First the historical fact: Minamoto no Raiko (948-1021) was known for his skill with the sword and bravery. When a band of ruthless bandits started raiding the capital and kidnapping women. The Emperor dispatched Raiko to subdue the bandits. With the help of his men, he was victorious.
Now, the legend: Since the story was later written in 14 Century, the story tellers decided to add a bit here and add a bit there, and filled in a lot of blanks since no one know EXACTLY how they subdued the bandits. Now the Chief Bandit became a demon, and our hero were aided by just 4 of his trusted comrades.
So, the story goes that capital was terrorized by an Oni (demon) and his diabolic cohorts. They abducted young maidens and ate them. Raiko was dispatched to kill the demon believed to be in a fort. Raiko and his men dressed up as traveling monks seeking refuge at the fort. On the way there, the group met an old man who was a god in desquise and gave them a bottle of wine (magical sake, I suppose) and a magical helmet, and tell them not to drink anything given by the demon.
The 5 of them arrived at the fort and was received by the demon in human form, and a feast was provided. They remembered what the old man had told them, so only pretend to drink the wine provided by the bandits. Raiko, in return, offered the demon the magical sake. The demon quickly fall to sleep and revealed his demonic appearance. Here the 5 of them changed into their armor with Raiko wearing the magical helmet. They pinned down the demon and chopped off his head. However, despite his head been chopped off, the head flew over and bite down on Raiko's helmet. Normally this would crush any armor, but since Raiko was protected with the magical helmet, he was not hurt and the 5 of them managed to finish off the demon and rest of his cohorts.
