Afternoon Tea Ink Stick

Along with the inkstone, brush, and paper, the inkstick was essential to a scholar’s practice of calligraphy and brush painting. Made of soot and animal glue that was pressed into a mold to harden, these solid inks were sometimes infused with incense or essences of clove, sandalwood or other fragrant oils. Shaped into a cartouche, this inkstone is embossed with the image of a scholar taking his tea in an artfully landscaped garden. To reconstitute the ink, the scholar would grind the inkstick against an inkstone with a small quantity of water to produce liquid ink.