In 1940, a magnificent installation was unveiled in St. Louis, Missouri. Commissioned by Mrs. LouisAloe to honor her late husband and created by distinguished Swedish artist Carl Milles, the piece was named Meeting of the Waters and was meant to represent the coming together of a figuratively female Missouri River with her male mate, the Mississippi River.
The landmark fountain that was revealed contains a basin filled with myriad sculptural figures. Complementary but distinct companions, male and female, are surrounded by water sprites, fish, and mermaids who all seem to dance in mist issuing from the carefully constructed jets and sprays. Each creature is meant to symbolize the main tributaries from the two aforementioned major bodies of water, of which there are 17. Triumphant and vivacious, Meeting of the Waters (or Marriage of the Waters, as Milles intended for its name) was made to play just so with the combination of the sun and water, and the result is a prismatic dance that sparkles in the wider atmosphere.
David Oscarson, with similar brilliance, has crafted a fountain pen whose profundity springs from its intimacy. It is among the most personal pieces he has offered and operates as a paean to his life’s experience, the lands he has known, and the completion that he feels now.
Such completion is like a finished braid—a successful blend of distinct elements into a unified and pleasing whole. Oscarson’s Carl Milles Marriage of the Waters writing instrument collection is just such a composition. Integration and comingling, the circuitous and the fluid, are all prominent themes. For instance, Milles is Swedish, and it’s where much of his canon resides. Oscarson was born in the United States but spent many of his formative years in Stockholm. Oscarson’s other home is in St. Louis, Missouri, which is, of course, the location of Milles’s Meeting of the Waters.
Denne historien er fra October 2019-utgaven av PEN WORLD.
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Denne historien er fra October 2019-utgaven av PEN WORLD.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Show Your Summer Style
The newest Visconti Homo Sapiens, Iris Garden, is a tribute to the beautiful irises that bloom each spring in Florence, Italy's Iris Garden.
Good Made Better Keeps Getting Better
SUZANNE C. LEE tests Dan Keller's wood and metal reading and writing accessories and finds her childhood dream desk come to fruition.
Layers of Talent: River City Pen Company
With his skills in design and eye for details, Rich Paul crafts pens that are as beautiful as they are functional.
Fathoming the Unfathomable
The new Kanilea Pen Co. Blue Moana fountain pen and Mau Loa cap band are inspired by the ocean's depths and universal interconnectivity.
Truphae: Flexibility Is Key
This young pen shop is writing a new chapter in retail pen sales by finding unique ways to foster community.
"Winter Counts:" Transforming Non-fiction into Fiction
Creative writing typically blends what we know and experience with what we invent and imagine.
Swivodex, Sailors, and the Plastic Revolution: An Overview of Dip-less Desk Sets, Part V
The end of World War II ushered in a new era, with plastics technology opening the way to better and less costly products of all sorts.
The Mystery of the Purloined Parkers
What do G-men, mobsters, and tampons have in common? The two most epic fountain pen heists in history.
The Other Articles of Impeachment
\"Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! All persons are commanded to keep silent, on pain of imprisonment...\"
The Road to Recovery
A recent trip to Wajima, Japan, by TACCIA's Shu-Jen Lin shows tragedy in the present but hope for the future.