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Brazilwood Red Ink
Brazilwood Red Ink
Historic Brazilwood Ink, 1 oz.
Designed for Dip Pen and Quill
Our Brazilwood ink is made from ethically sourced Brazilwood sawdust that are a biproduct of the making of violin bows. Brazilwood is a historically over harvested wood and is a protected species.
Each batch of ink starts by boiling Brazilwood shavings in vinegar, as was done historically. The beautiful red color is formed when alum is added to the extracted brazilwood. To this we add historic preservatives (thyme oil and clove oil). This ink is a brilliant pink-red color when writing on parchment or neutral or acidic paper. When used on archival papers with a high pH the ink can shift to a purplish color. If it becomes contaminated with iron gall ink and/or an uncoated steel pen is used with it, it writes with a dark greyish purple.
Brazilwood ink was used historically to red lines before writing text on certain illuminated manuscripts, but works equally well on paper in modern art applications.
Our historic inks are formulated using period recipes and analysis of period inks. These inks are designed for use with genuine quills and dip pens, NOT fountain pens, as they will not work correctly in fountain pens, and will either corrode or clog (or both) the inner workings of a fountain pen.
As these are made using historic recipes and techniques there will be some variation between each batch; however, the flow of every batch of ink is tuned by hand to give proper behavior from a quill.
Each of our historic inks come in a 1 oz bottle with a screw-top lid that has been dipped in wax to give it a more authentic style.
