One of my “rules” of collecting, and I put “rules” in quotes because I break them so often, is that I don’t buy a pencil unless it is marked with a manufacturer’s name . . . or at least, I can with confidence attribute it to a specific manufacturer.
That went out the window when I saw this one in an online auction:
This is a leadholder: turning the cap one way releases the lead, and turning it in the opposite direction clamps down on the lead to hold it in place. The pattern is very high relief and is worthy of picking up regardless of who was responsible for creating it.
Although there is no name on it, I do believe I have a shot at identifying this one. Both the clip and barrel are marked Sterling with a star afterward:
Here is the new addition shown alongside an Aikin Lambert leadholder – one of the superstars in my entire collection. The mechanisms are the same in operation, the clip is the same shape, and while the patterns are different, both are made in that great naturalistic art nouveau style.
There are many known Aikin Lambert pencils that are marked “Sterling A.,” and the company used many other trademarks as reported in Trade-Marks of the Jewelry and Kindred Trades over the course of several editions. A star by itself? I haven’t found the evidence yet to support that.
Until that evidence materializes, I am reluctant to file this one away with my other Aikin Lambert pencils. But where . . . someplace where I won’t misplace it . . .
At the Detroit show a couple years ago, Myk Daigle gave me a small rubber duck which was subtly extending a middle finger - that duck has ever since been a fixture on my display at pen shows, an Easter egg that brings a chuckle to nearly everyone who sees it. I noticed a woman staring intently at my table during one show, and when I asked her if I could help her find something, she asked me – as if she herself was unsure – “is your duck . . . giving me the bird??”
At the Philadelphia show last January, Myk doubled down on the duck, presenting me with a more formal version, cast in acrylic and gesturing double-barreled. One duck is enough on my table, so this one sits proudly on display atop one of my printers’ cabinets in the museum. Until the day comes when I can formally trace the pedigree of my starry leadholder, it’s the perfect place for it to reside.
