A Wash of Sea Water

Bluenose Bear—If nothing else the name is interesting. Seeing as how it’s attached to a particular color of ink, it becomes even more interesting considering that color and name are as far apart as bobby pins and pizza sauce. Ridiculous to think that somewhere a bear with a blue nose gave Nathan Tardif an idea for a new ink. Looking at a swatch of Noodler’s recently released Bluenose Bear ink, not many would imagine bears with blue noses. Putting aside bears for the moment, the bluenose part holds no mystery.

Bluenose was a Canadian fishing and racing schooner from Nova Scotia built in 1921. It was a celebrated racing ship and hard-working fishing vessel that became an icon for Nova Scotia as well as an important Canadian symbol in the 1930s. The name “bluenose” originated as a nickname for the people of Nova Scotia around the late eighteenth century. In 1929 Canada issued a commemorative stamp honoring the schooner. A picture of the schooner appears on the bottle of Noodler’s Bluenose Bear ink.

When it comes to bears, the closest match might be polar bears, but rather than the bear or its nose, the new ink from Noodler’s is a color imagined for the water that polar bears swim in, perhaps even the water that the Bluenose sailed in. Something cold about the shade, a wash of arctic sea water with a dash of milk. Somewhere in the mixing bowl is a blend of green and blue, a smidgen of black, a dollop of white. Some of that can be seen in the photo of the Bluenose schooner. Whatever the particulars are that brought Mr Tardif to this color, I for one am happy it came to pass.

Not all reviews of this ink have been good. Complaints of feathering and bleed through are the biggest problems, mostly on Rhodia paper. That said, neither feathering or bleed through have been a noticeable problem in my experience—on paper not made by Rhodia. Most of my Bluenose Bear pages have been in the ever present Japanese notebook, Noble Note Plain with unlined ivory pages. Using the ink for just about three weeks, the reaction is an every time Wow! The enthusiasm could be dampened with different paper and a fountain pen other than the Sailor Professional Gear with medium nib, but something about the Bluenose Bear spells optimism.

The handwritten sample here is in a Rhodia Webnotebook, the swatch on white Clairefontaine paper. The Bluenose ink shows no feathering at all on the Rhodia paper or the Clairefontaine, and bleed through is minimal.

Kung Te-Ch’eng

Lots of buzz these days about an ink from Noodler’s called Kung Te-Ch’eng. In terms of color, quality and description it has some interesting characteristics. A shade of bluish-purple, it’s not one that particularly lights my fire but it is understandable why many others are excited by it. Reading a couple of reviews and seeing the attached samples gave a good idea of color and performance, and also a couple of ‘watch out for’ tips. The makers of Kung Te-Ch’eng state right off that for the health of your fountain pens this is an ink that must be used with caution. It also has a very strong chemical smell which some may not like, and spilled on anything, this bulletproof (permanent) ink is there to stay, so care must be taken.

What caught my eye before even getting a look at the ink was the name and description. Why did Noodler’s choose the name Kung Te-Ch’eng, that of a contemporary Chinese statesman who died only three years ago? Interesting story. The ink maker’s stated goal was ‘an attempt to replicate the color, depth, behavior, properties and general characteristics of the first royal ink of ancient China.’ According to information offered by JetPens, ink blenders at Noodler’s were interested in China’s royal ink at the time of Confucius. To understand the shade of ink used at the time, experts have examined the remnants of ink stones used by the Chinese Emperors, but information is limited by the passage of years as well as difficulty in getting cooperation from museums and collectors. The preference, according to what has been learned was for a blue-purple. In gratitude for the assistance received in their search, Noodler’s chose to name their ink Kung Te-Ch’eng, the name of the 77th lineal descendant of Confucius.

Kung Te-Ch’eng (1920-2008) was a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of China from 1946 to 1991, helped draft the 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China and was a senior advisor to the President of the Republic of China for over fifty years. He was for a number of years director of the National Palace Museum in Taipei and served as President of the Examination Yuan for almost ten years. As a descendant of Confucius, the first character of his name is the same as the ancient philosopher’s.

The royal blue-purple ink of ancient China was of course used exclusively by the Emperor and his statesmen-advisors in recording official policy. Outside of the palace confines, the standard ink at that time was black. Ancient Egyptians and Chinese, both developed ink at approximately the same time around 2500 BC. From long ago Chinese literature has referred to the brush, ink, inkstone and paper as the “four precious things of the library.” Evidence for early Chinese inks similar to the modern ink sticks we see now dates from around 256 BC. The ink was produced from soot and animal glue, using fine particles of carbon lampblack for color, and gum or glue as a binder. It was sold in solid sticks or cakes, either round or rectangular. For writing it was was ground on an inkstone and mixed with water. The finest lampblack is said to come from the burning of vegetable oils but in ancient times the best soot came from burning the wood of specially selected pine trees in an ink furnace which included inverted pottery jars to catch the smoke. The jars trapped the soot which was later removed with feather brushes. The soot was then mixed with glue made from horn or animal hides. Glue made from the horns of young deer was of the highest quality because of its purity. Good ink was dependent upon good glue, giving the ink texture and life.

In reading about Chinese ink I came upon an interesting tidbit about the Chinese Imperial examinations which were given to select those qualified for government posts between the years 605 and 1905. The examinations were very long and each student taking the exam arrived at an examination compound with only a few amenities: a water pitcher, a chamber pot, bedding, food, an inkstone, ink, and brushes.

Examples of Chinese calligraphy on the right:

The first is by Zhang Zuyi (1849-1917) in the style called Clerical Script.

The second example on darker paper is by Chen Hongshou (1768-1822) written in the Running Script style.

Polar Blue

Blue ink. It’s traditional, standard, in most cases expected. Many describe it as ‘favorite,’ many won’t consider anything else. Earliest memories are of the old blue and yellow boxes of Sheaffer Skrip Blue from Griffith’s Drugstore, the place where I also bought Sheaffer fountain pens for around $2.00.

But as one of the cigarette commercials used to say, ‘You’ve come a long way baby.’ These days there are more brands and shades of blue ink than I can count. A quick look in my sample book shows thirteen shades of blue in seven brands. Some of my favorites have for several years been Waterman’s Florida Blue, De Atramentis Guiseppe Verdi Blue and Iroshizuku Ajisai (hydrangea). And while thirteen shades of blue ink will sound to some like way too many, there are a few of us for whom ‘too many’ is hard to get a handle on. Take for example the blue ink sample I got today from Brian Goulet.

NOODLER’S POLAR BLUE

Looking at the name on the bottle, the reaction was something like, “Oh, another blue.” I was also not too impressed by the fact that the blue had come from Noodler’s… Time now for me to wipe out that first impression and admit that this Polar Blue from Noodler’s is not only an exceptional shade of blue, but also a well-behaved ink.

A word about the name—Polar Blue may very well be the perfect name for this chilly shade of blue. It has a cold milkiness that hints at the white of snow, or the fur of polar bears. From the first moment the ink colored the page, I saw a blue resonant with the idea of ‘polar.’ Good name.

I’ve felt some ambivalence about Noodler’s ink in the past, and there aren’t many bottles of it in my collection. Most often in my experience an appealing color was not often matched with good performance in one or several fountain pens. Too often it had a dry, un-lubricated feel, a lack of the preferred wetness. Not sure what they’ve done, but the more recent samples of Noodler’s ink display an altogether different quality. Noodler’s Red and Noodler’s Walnut are good examples of what I sense as an improvement. Now the Polar Blue has come along to reinforce my evolving opinion of Noodler’s ink.

I tested the Polar Blue in a Pelikan Souverän 600 on two kinds of Clairefontaine paper—cream colored paper in the Rhodia Webbie and white Triomphe stationery. Results were better on the white Triomphe, which had less feathering. The cream paper showed only a very slight tendency to bleed, probably to a degree most people would overlook. On both papers the ink is wet and well-lubricated. The one thing missing is any noticeable shading; this is not an ink that offers much in that area. There was also a measure of bleed through on both papers. I suspect that writing front and back with Polar Blue might result in a less than ‘clean’ look.

One quality of the ink that will please many is the fast drying time. Believe it or not, Polar Blue dries before you can reach out and swipe a finger across the just written numeral. Obviously an ink that will make left handed writers happy.

Looking around at other blue inks, finding a match or similar shade of blue wasn’t easy. The Polar Blue has nothing like a twin, but the closest could be the Lavender Scented ink made by De Atramentis. The two are pretty close in my view.

Overall, the Polar Blue rates a high score. This frosty blue will make a great holiday gift or stocking stuffer. Thanks again to Brian at the Goulet Pen Company.

Wishing all a very merry Polar Blue.