The Animals in the Moonlight series opens a new chapter. Five years after the first edition was introduced, Sailor brings the elephant into focus, placing it under the same idyllic moonlight that has guided the deer, Japanese wolf, tiger, horse, and cobra over the years.
Artist Ikki Moroike, who has collaborated with the Japanese manufacturer since the very beginning of the series and created the artwork for all 50 pieces in this edition, invites us to contemplate the elephant and draw inspiration from its quiet grandeur.
As with the previous editions, the artist builds on an ebonite base, using it as the canvas for his highly detailed artwork. Although this is already the sixth model I have had the opportunity to cover, I am still struck by the level of precision Moroike manages to achieve on a pen measuring only around 20 mm in diameter.
The nocturnal scene unfolds around the elephant as its central figure, rendered in warm shades of gold and brown as it makes its way along a deep green path scattered with gold powder. A closer look reveals a calf walking closely beside it on its journey through the night. Behind them, leaves and branches add vegetation to the scene, giving the landscape greater depth without drawing attention away from the main subject. The lacquerwork allows the artist to play with both texture and colour, bringing greater depth and life to the scene. On the cap, the moon appears in silvery tones, accompanied by a veil of clouds and night mist. It acts as a guiding presence for the elephant and remains one of the defining motifs of the entire Animals in the Moonlight series.
Sailor presents the elephant as a symbol of patience, resilience, wisdom and grace, moving calmly in the moonlight along a path that seems older than memory itself.
Each example also bears Ikki Moroike’s hand-painted signature alongside its individual serial number, a detail that reinforces the handcrafted nature of the project. Elephant in the Moonlight is the sixth model in the series and is limited to just 50 pieces worldwide.
Beyond its maki-e decoration, Elephant in the Moonlight retains the DNA of a Sailor King of Pen, including the two-tone 21k gold nib that has become something of an icon within the fountain pen industry. The nib is available in two writing widths, Medium and Broad, offering enough versatility for those who prefer either a thinner line or a broader, more expressive variation.
Proportion-wise, the pen measures approximately 153.5 mm in length and 20 mm in diameter, enough to give the edition the distinctive presence associated with the King of Pen family while still providing a comfortable writing experience, even during longer writing sessions.
The edition is available for preorder through authorised Sailor retailers and is priced at €5,163.95.
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