Carbon black ink

This ink is a viscous carbon pigment based ink made from fine black pigment from charred wood collected from London. The black pigment is then mixed with rain water and then added to an oak gall ink along with gum Arabic.

In full opacity this ink is highly opaque, dense and thick. In lighter washes it begins to granulate.

It comes in a 40ml glass heavy bottom bottle with cork and wax seal.

HISTORICAL INKS
Our inks are hand-made in England to 17th, 18th century and medieval recipes. Made in small batches and processed in Cambridgeshire and London, they contain locally sourced natural and organic materials. Each ink recipe has been meticulously researched from primary and secondary resources and the resulting ink is a culmination of many hours of experimenting and fine tuning. Many ancient weights and measures do not have corresponding modern equivalents so often scholarly articles are utilised to ascertain these vernacular quantities to the highest accuracy possible.

BRITISH CRAFT TRADITION
This collection of inks is a unique offering of time-honoured tradition from British history. Each ink is a true historical recipe faithfully recreated and in some was resurrected, using traditional methods and materials. Colours from bygone eras are once more revealed.

INDUSTRIAL INK PRODUCTION
Modern inks typically use synthetically produced chemicals that can sometimes be toxic, often harmful for the user and the environment. Artificial colour enhancers once added, can shorten the life of the ink both in storage and on paper. Our inks use naturally occurring organic ingredients. Tannic acid in oak galls give the ink its intense dark colour, and in commercial inks this is synthetically made in industrial quantities. It would be very hard to find enough oak galls to cater for such vast amounts of ink. In contrast we champion the specificity of the origins of the ingredients for our inks.

NATURAL INK MAKING PROCESS
Natural variations in raw materials due to seasonal changes do attribute to slight colour variations. Therefore, different batches of ink are blended to allow for consistency. These seasonal variations that create colour nuances add a sense of the rarefied experience and allow artists to appreciate singular moments in time. This ‘slow craft tradition’ is important in continuing Britain’s unique cultural traditions.