At the turn of the 19th century, the artist Alphonse Mucha was at the height of his career. A fine artist, whose name is now synonymous with the art nouveau style, the Czech Mucha came from an illustration background and became widely and commercially well known through his advertisements for everything from chocolate to cigarettes to laundry detergent.

Living in Paris, Mucha was also celebrated for his idealized female figures that were often based on Parisian film stars and glitterati, and his work included his years studying, drawing, and painting film actress and icon, Sarah Bernhardt. His portraits of her were printed as large scale posters heralding his commercial work which took advantage of new advances in printing. 

In 1887, the invention of celluloid film paved the way for Mucha to become the first artist to work directly from photography. Thusly, his color palette was often the rich, warm, pastel tones of photographs and he used these hues to create Mucha women with flowing hair that matched the flourish of his gorgeous lettering and typefaces.

Within this range of color emerges a signature eau de nil blue that Mucha used to clothe the women in lush drapery, illuminate the skies behind them, give them wings and surround them with waves of water. Our newest addition to our core range of Esterbook Estie’s celebrates the innovation of Mucha’s work and his particular shades of blue, blended into a material that reflects the celluloid of pen making past.

Introducing Nouveau Bleu, the latest offering that joins our other classic colors as a permanent part of the Estie lineup. 

As a part of our Core Range, the comfortably balanced Estie Nouveau Blue is offered in ballpoint, rollerball, standard and oversized fountain pen models. It is offered in palladium finishes. The material is blended and turned acrylic with a Mucha mix of blues and a highly polished finish.

A sleek clip provides a clean accent for the cap and slides easily to one’s shirt pocket. The fountain pen is available in a complete range of points for the way you write with a variety of standard nib sizes: extra fine, fine, medium, broad and 1.1 stub. 

The “Journaler” ground for us by nibmeister Gena Salorino and The “Scribe” by nibmeister Josh Lax. The Estie is also available with an engineered MV Nib Adaptor (sold separately.) The MV Adaptor delivers a vintage nib experience housed in the modern Estie. All vintage Esterbrook nib units are compatible with this adaptor.

Our nibs are specially manufactured for us in Germany by Jowo. A cushion cap closure provides a secondary seal to ensure a wet point. Ink is filled by a cartridge of ink or a converter, which acts like a syringe to draw ink from a bottle.

**The nib you receive may not be as pictured. Jowo is phasing out the patterned nibs and the newer nibs will be a plain version.**