Khalil Gibran The Prophet

To create the perfect aesthetic for pens in the collection, Montegrappa used Gibran’s own visual “language”: his own paintings. Gibran’s work incorporates elements of two major late-19th Century art movements: Aestheticism and Symbolism.

Like the Symbolists, Gibran strove to relay personal, often deeply spiritual feelings in visual form. Complementing this is his beliefs’ semblance to the philosophy of the Aesthetes, who sought beauty and poetry in all things. So, too, for Gibran this served as an antidote to the rampant materialism of the world around him. Gibran’s quest for humanity’s eternal and undeniable truths is a consistent theme linking his literature and artwork. Significantly, Gibran’s artwork, including paintings and drawings, has been incorporated into his collection of literary work.

In his art, Gibran utilised classic, idealised human figures to express universal themes. Suggesting a link between the physical and spiritual realms, his otherworldly figures seem to float in mid air, free of material bonds. The spiritual nature of Gibran’s figures is suggested through his use of soft, muted, and sometimes blurred outlines around them.

With the help of Lebanese artist and designer, Katya Traboulsi, Montegrappa have coupled together the spiritual elements of Gibran’s works with the visual elements of his paintings to translate them into a pen design. Her creativity brings together the most iconic paintings of Gibran with the figures standing out in a solid silver or gold lattice, intri- cately binding them into a beautiful writing instrument.

Based in Dubai, Traboulsi was born in 1960. Since 1986, her work has been exhibited in Paris, Washington, Mexico City, New York, London, Kuwait, Algiers, Beirut, Dubai and other capitals. Traboulsi’s art has entered many private collections in Canada, France, Switzerland, the USA, England, Dubai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan and Lebanon. She has also published two books, Of Others (2011) and Generation War’ (2013).

Traboulsi’s design for the Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet pen features an enamel images of Gibran’s artworks, hand-pain- ted by a local Italian artisan. They are then skilfully encapsulated by a low-relief, hand-etched precious metal case. When one takes a closer look at the intricate case mesh, the viewer discerns an amazing swirl of human bodies and the very name, “The Prophet.”

Thanks to their complexity and intricacy, the cap and barrel of the pen are testimonies to the superlative goldsmith techniques of Montegrappa’s craftspersons. The Prophet pen is offered with either solid 18K gold or sterling silver embellishing. The nib is made of the traditional choice, 18K gold, further enhanced by the Kahlil Gibran’s stylised image and the Montegrappa logo. The signature clip shows the same hand ornament as the First Edition Kahlil Gibran pen, as is the cap top, marked by the poet’s personal symbol.

The book was first published in 1923 and is now in its 163rd edition. “The Prophet” collection consists of 163 num- bered pieces of fountain and rollerball pens in Sterling Silver, and 26 fountain and rollerball pens in 18K solid Gold. The number 26 represents the 26 passages or chapters of the book, each referring to a different philosophical subject.