£145.00

SOOTY MONK - ORNATE CHINESE INKSTICK

This ink stick comes from Old Huishi Hu Kaiwen in China. Created from pine oil he has been hand painted and comes in a silk covered wooden box with a glass front. We cannot obtain any more now.   The value of this is that it comes from Chinas oldest ink stick factory. After this, and this one was made pre 1950, there will not be anymore.

The Sooty Monk stands about 7 inches tall. This year I have sold 3.  The supplier has gone. The shipments have depleted here.  It is a shame. They come wrapped face to face in very ornate silken wooden boxes with glass lids and are stamped with marks from the manufacturer.  They vary. Most contain super fine ink that was used to make the monks at the time the Chinese GOvernment were taking over the factory.  The base is covered in a thin greyish ink soot and is miserable to use. After this 3 milimetres of bad ink the sot becomes fragranced and dark as midnight.  They are light in weight, heavy ink sticks are not high quality, soot is not heavy. Plaster of paris is heavy. Glue is heavy.
The Monks, as far as we know, are used to hide premium quality ink inside them. They are made with young deer horn glue, perfumes, medicines to make the ink tacky, and somtimes ground mother of pearl to make the ink sparkle.
Either way these are Chinese History and we will not be selling any mpore uinless we can find them in our storerooms or onbtain more from our supplier of 1998.

All items are shipped AirMail Intrnational Insured and Signed for on delivery. Postage will be around £9:70 - £10:91 depending on packaging used. No additional fees are charged other than the countries postage.

It takes 18 litres of Pine Oil  burned to make 1 litre of soot.
This is then kneaded with perfumes, medicines, crushed mother of pearl, young deer horn glues and pressed into wooden molds where it may sit for some years to dry and age before being hand painted, and encased in protective wooden silken coated boxes then wrapped face to face in brown paper.

Limited number are left.  1 Left.  

Product Code: G5