Featured S. Mordan & Co. Dip Pen & Propelling Pencil Combo-Set. Christmas, 1874.

Whoever Mr. F.E. Easten is, someone obviously thought enough of him to buy him a swanky little silver pen. Hallmarked Sterling Silver. London. S. Mordan. etc etc. Date engraved is Christmas, 1874.


"S. MORDAN & CO"

F.E. EASTEN. Christmas, 1874. SM (Sampson Mordan) & hallmarks.

Pencil.

Pen (the nib is one of my own, from my collection of hundreds of these things).

Pen & pencil together.

For reasons unknown, the tail-end unscrews. I asked the seller and he had no idea either. It doesn't seem to fulfill any practical function.

Here it is, with my other Mordan silver pen set:

 

The back end is to hold xtra leads....yum yum , it's nice !!!

 

I figured that out. But now I realise that the pen is incomplete.

It's missing the tassie or jewel that would've capped the end of the pen, to stop those leads falling out. I wonder what I can substitute for it? I guess it doesn't matter. The pencil isn't functional. But writing with the pen will be fun.

 

Why is the pencil not functional?
Does it not grasp the lead ??

 

I can't GET any lead for it. These old pencils use a type of lead which isn't easily available anymore. As a result they're almost useless. I bought it because it was silver, because it was Mordan, and because it was a pen. NOT because it was a pencil, because I know they're almost impossible to use these days.

 

Lovely pens & pencil. Here in the US we have leads for cross pens&pencil sets,stores that sell draafting supplies usually have lead and even some finer stationery stores.

 

Hi,
Have to agree with Shiloh, drafting supplies stores have different size leads. My ex used to be an architect and she had leads in four or five different sizes.
greg

 

It's beautiful, Shangas! You find the neatest stuff in Oz.

 

You can certainly buy leads for those pencils here.

 

OH YA !!
& this from the Aussie who buys beat up stuff and restores it back to amazing condition ????

Get the lead out !!! & find those leads !! ....................

 

Montblanc makes a wide variety of pencil leads, many for some of their older models. And surprisingly enough most of them are available on Amazon. Mark Cross has been producing pencils for over 150 years and one assumes that they too have a variety of leads available.

 

FWIW we found a load of 1920s/30s pencil leads a year ago and they sold quickly for good money.

 

The only way to get the lead for these pencils would be to grind it down yourself. Finding it commercially is nigh impossible. Believe me, I've tried. I've gone to countless shops all over town, I've asked friends, I've asked fellow collectors...It's a waste of time. I bought it for the pen and the pen is the only part of it I'm ever likely to use.

 

Well then......high marks for trying....

 

I have a friend who collects these pencils as a hobby. She has hundreds of them. She says finding graphite for them is nigh impossible. The pens are easy enough to fix and use, and the pencil-holders, but the propelling pencils themselves are really tricky.

I flushed the entire thing through my ultrasonic cleaner twice today, to clean it. All kinds of grey and brown gunk came billowing out of it. At least now the slide-actions work better.

 

Hm. Different markets and availability. I've had the propelling pencils and found leads for them.

 

This is Australia we're talking about. Nothing grows here. Including graphite.

 

Your stock seems to be growing....

 

Ah, but you do mine the stuff.

 

Grow nothin'. I accumulate stuff, thank you very much!!

And yes, it is rather like mining. Dig and see what shows up in the spoils.