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An incredibly rare survival from the golden age of overlay pens. Black hard rubber with solid 14K gold high-relief cable twist design. 142mm. No. 3 Wirt ventless nib, nice flex. The pen is mint condition, perfect in every detail. This pen is not just the only surviving example in this pattern, but it appears to be the only known solid gold cable twist overlay from any maker.

The Paul E. Wirt Co. of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania was one of the first American makers of fine fountain pens and one of the most esteemed. Mr. Wirt started marketing his designs in the early 1880s, and by 1890 his company was established as the market leader, offering over 50 designs and selling two million pens.  By 1910 the Paul E. Wirt Co. held 30 patents for its technical innovations, and the company was endorsed by Mark Twain at the height of his popularity, which propelled it to even greater levels of success.  As the company was highly capitalized, more so than rival Waterman in its early days, it had ample funds to create stunning designs, of which the present lot is a paramount example.

This rare and beautiful instrument will come as a revelation to most collectors, as no other solid gold cable twist eyedropper pens are known to exist. It is perhaps the highest achievement of the preeminent penmaker of its era, and may be considered one of the most exciting eyedropper pens to come to market in quite some time.  As Dr. Ron L. Dutcher of Kamakura pens remarked, "If you do not have a Wirt pen, you ought to try and find one. All other pens are frank failures".