The Enamelled Millennium Editions
The new Millennium provided a wonderful opportunity for new designs. Four were produced by Montegrappa; the first with a very specific design brief and the other three with a very flexible brief that left David Pledge to create the thinking behind the series.
As with most of our other examples, we have illustrated here just the tubes, unpolished, as they would have left the enameller's workshop prior to polishing and assembly, so that all the detail of the engine turning is visible.
The first ever enamelled CAD CAM pen
The first pen Celebrating the new millennium was also the first enamelled pen created by Pledge & Aldworth for Montegrappa.
This pen was designed in 1998 by David Pledge from a brief specifying that images from the Basilica at St Peter's Cathedral in Rome would form the basis of the design, including the stained glass window behind the alter, here reproduced with vitreous enamel. The cloud shapes are taken by kind permission from a copyright design by Jane Pledge, (nee Aldworth) from 1977, © Jane Aldworth 1977, All Rights Reserved.
Approximately 1,200 pieces were produced with a unit price which would be in 2005 of about £32 UKP per tube for the engine turning. Vitreous enamel, provided by a third party recommended by us, likely cost in 2005, about £40 or so UKP each. Sadly the factory had a fire which destroyed some of the cellulose intended for these pens which takes 14 months to produce and so although they could have probably sold more than 2,000 pieces, production had to stop, sold out.
Three Special Pens for the Third Millenium, Designed by David Pledge
These three designs are an excellent illustration of how the engine turning process has been developed into a true art form by Pledge & Aldworth Engine Turners, and what can be achieved if we are given the freedom to define the project conception in close co-operation with the customers designers.
1. "The Symbiosis of Science and Nature"
The Symbiosis of Science and Nature
This was the first of a trilogy of pens celebrating the new millennium, designed by David Pledge for Montegrappa. In the images above you see the original colour choices used for the first sample; this was later changed by the customer.
The theme of the design was the designer's optimistic view that in the third millennium, science would begin to work with rather than against nature in a symbiosis brought about by greater understanding of how our universe functions. The passion flower symbolises both nature and the religious elements of the millennium date, while the figure of Adam, taken directly from Michelangelo's famous creation scene in the Cistine Chapel, here reworked in low relief, reverses the meaning in the original painting; in our design, Adam is now creating technology, his finger pointing at a symbolic microchip embedded in a circuit diagram background, his elbow resting on a pile of books representing learning and knowledge. This design lays the foundation for the two sequential editions.
Engine turning was about £25.00 UKP in 1999, plus vitreous enamel at about £35 UKP per tube in the final version with only two colours.
2. "The Ascent of Man"
Renamed by the customer "Human Civilization" for fear of copyright issues.
The second of the Trilogy, designated by the Designer to be called "The Ascent of Man" but renamed by the customer for possible copyright reasons, celebrates the rise of human civilization. This pen was produced as you see it here in the same colours.
In this design by David Pledge, the pen body represents the inside of an art gallery, a great symbol of human culture. Symbols are everywhere, from the Fleurs de lys Wallpaper representing royal heritage and the greek keyway representing history, to the subject matter of the paintings, each of which symbolises a part of our civilisation: the scales of Justice, the Ship representing transport and exploration, corn for food and drink, a cross representing religion and medicine, A violin representing music and entertainment, a book representing education, literature and learning, the microchip representing science and technology. And finally, again we see Adam from the Cistine Chapel, this time in a painting with his finger pointing to the stairs which represent the rise or ascent of civilization. The hand rail of the stairs has actually continued surrealistically into the painting, thus drawing the composition together.
Engine turning was about £25.00 UKP in early 2000.
3. "The Space Odyssey"
Renamed to "Cosmos Enigma"
The final pen in the series conceived and designed by David Pledge as "The Space Odysey", looks forward to the next millennium and man's exploration of our galaxy and beyond. These illustrations are of preliminary enamelling proposals. The final product had the single round cell containing Adam unenamelled, for contrast.
Adam is now represented symbolically encapsulated in a space ship, which we see from the inside out. We are looking through the windows at the myriad stars and nebulae of a huge spiral galaxy not unlike the one in which we live. Adam's finger is now pointing to what represents the explosion of human colonisation as we spread across the vast universe. As in the previous two designs, his elbow still rests upon the books of knowledge, the driving force of human improvement.
Engine turning was about £30 UKP in 2000.