Posted 5 years ago
RareBitRave
(16 items)
this belongs to my brother which he found when he was little.
We have no idea what it is or was. has Chinese symbols and a cool dragon around it.
It feels like charcoal and resin but not sure. cannot find anything.
It looks like one of the sleeves that fit over the wooden handle of a letter opener. The handle usually had a sleeve like this and the blade part slid into a wooden sheath that had a carving on one side. I still have a couple of them around here. They were popular dollar store items a number of years ago. The letter opener was supposed to look like a miniature samurai sword.
Well thats the most info i have heard about it.
That sounds pretty cool if it is.
Thank you for your time
It is an ink stone used for writing calligraphy.
I've seen and used ink stones, old and new but you may as well have said this is for changing a tire.
Ha ha, good luck changing your tire with one of those. I have a complete set with an ink stone that looks very similar. The set comes with 4 brushes, an ink plate, a small marble stamp for your initials or whatever to be carved into, and a small spoon. I've taken a couple photos to share, but I don't know how to post them here. If you let me know how, I will.
This is an ink STICK, to be used on an ink stone with water.
Ink sticks were/are made from the soot found on the underside of small ceramic bowls that have been held over a candle, the soot is gathered and mixed with resin made into a pastes and stamped into a mould to form the stick, the stick is then left outside under cover for months then if desired it is decorated and sold as an ink stick, just like you have, the stick is gently rubbed onto an ink stone made out of various quality stone, sometimes a black slate stone, sometimes greenish and other colours. The ink stone releases its contents onto the ink stone where it is used in Chinese calligraphy. Some are worth a few pounds some much more.
Oh I forgot one piece of the jigsaw, the ink stone is mixed with water when grinding on the ink stone to form a deep black/blue ink.
Cheers