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1930's Japanese Swan
Here we have a very rare pen. It is marked as "The Ideal" on the nib. This was the name used by the Japanese Swan company for their lacquer pens.
I've seen several various Swan Ideals, and they are all unique. They often have rarely seen complicated maki-e techniques, or mechanical inovations that you will never find on another Japanese fountain pen.
This pen is a plain black urushi lacquer, but it has a red cross on the cap and the blind cap. This red cross is done with hira maki-e.
Another interesting point is that this is a button filler, just like the early Parker Duofolds. Swan was never shy about borrowing names. To be sure the name Swan was coppied from the American Mabie, Todd and Bard. "Ideal " is obviously infringing upon Waterman's trade mark. In the 1950's the Japanese Swan company would also use the name Duofold on their pens. During the 1920's and 1930's Japanese goods were often looked upon as inferior, so a pen with an English name would sell much better.
Nevertheless, the Japanese Swan fountain pens were always top quality and this pen is a fine example.
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