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It is indeed a Duan inkstone, although I think the design is more decorative than practical.
– Certificate for collectible Duan inkstone
Name: Guangdong Museum collection, „Canals in Precious Stone“ or something of the like
Mine: Songkeng „Song dynasty mine“
Measurements: 15x15x4 (cm)
Production supervisor: Guangdong Provincial Museum
Design: Chengliang’s Inkstone Workshop
Production: Chengliang’s Inkstone Workshop
Year of production: 2009
Stone characteristics: pig-liver red, colored bands, moist, fine, dense and solid.„Song mine“ stone was discovered in the Song dynasty (duh), and is a type of Duan inkstone. It’s mined on the north bank of Xijiang River, across the river from where the most famous stones are (were) mined. The name actually refers to a production area rather than a single mine, so there’s quite a lot of variety under the name.
Googling around, „Chengliang’s inkstone workshop“ was founded by a Cheng Zhenliang, but this stone was apparently made by an unnamed craftsperson.
The stone will be easier to use if you remove the wax first. It will wear out gradually if you don’t, though.
Yes, this can be done, but how easily depends on how hard or not the stone is. Yours is claiming to be an Amehata 雨畑 stone and I don’t have any experience working on those, but I’ll share what I can.
Get a couple waterproof silicon carbide papers of different grits (I won’t be giving any numbers because standards can differ on your end) and a grinding block to wrap the paper around. The paper will last longer when you moisten it properly. Start with a medium grit and smooth out the entire surface until the pit is gone. If this seems to take forever then you either need a more robust abrasive or more patience. Then move towards the higher grits.
The final surface will probably feel slippery and not good to grind ink on. To finish off the job, you may want to use something like the mud block from Inkston, Universal Stone, or even kitchen scrub with calcium carbonate such as Cif Cream (see this Japanese hobbyist’s experiment). Here’s another Japanese article on „opening“ the inkstone.
The green one is a Songhua inkstone from Jilin province, carved by Gao Yufa 高玉发 of 紫霞堂 Zixiatang „Rosy Clouds Hall“ workshop in Liaoning. This type of stone was promoted by the Qing (Manchu) emperors and also given as an official gift. Your stone in a stone box was made in this „palace style“. Songhua is a hard stone and not easily damaged, hence good to use with potentially gritty ink such as old pine soot.
The other is a Duan inkstone from Zhaoqing, Guangdong, claiming to be from 坑仔岩 „Little Pit“ mine. Little Pit ranks among the top three Duanxi mines, although it had the largest output of the 3 and the stone quality varies. It was carved by 谢荣 Xie Rong after a design by 梁焕明 Liang Huanming, founder of 华兴端砚厂 Huaxing Duan Inkstone Factory.
Since these are modern factory stones, it might be a good idea to check what similar new products sell for.
Zixiatang https://mall.jd.com/index-10231681.html
Huaxing http://www.hxduanyan.comI’d say never mind the ink, it’s more important to choose a paper that can withstand the layered washes. Considering the size of his paintings, he probably uses bottled ink that is either oil soot or pigment carbon black.
This is most likely a replica of a Qing dynasty ink set („仿古墨“), made as a gift item in the 1970s or 80s using old designs. The ink looks like it could be okay quality pine soot, although the paintwork is sloppy (one feature that tells these apart from genuine Qing ink). Nonetheless these are a fun way to snazz up your studio, not to mention full of cultural and economic history.
All these are produced by 徳记胡开文 Deji Hukaiwen factory. Personally, I’ve never used their ink, but as far as I know their reputation is not very good.
The first one is called „唐墨“ (Tang Mo), an oil soot ink (it says 书画油烟墨, „calligraphy and painting oil soot ink“, on the box). Many factories make some version of the „唐墨“ mold and it is usually a middle-grade oil soot ink, but the exact recipe varies from one factory to another. 纯松烟 is literally pure pine soot.
For historical reasons, there are many factories with Hukaiwen in their name. Talking about new ink, 屯溪胡开文 Tunxi Hukaiwen (registered trademark 胡开文 Hukaiwen) and 绩溪胡开文 Jixi Hukaiwen (registered trademark 苍佩室 Cang Pei Shi) are generally considered good, 歙县老胡开文 She County Old Hukaiwen (registered trademark 李廷珪 Li Tinggui) is supplied at Inkston. Tunxi and She County Old Hukaiwen were two of the state-owned ink factories in the last century.
^ These are some excellent points. Even contact with the ink stick slowly abrades the stone, which is why you see old inkstones with a depression in the middle. A good inkstone will keep its edge for a long time, and you should really not clean it with an abrasive unless it’s in dire need of being resurfaced (such as damaged, waxed or – rarely – worn smooth).
Soaking indeed can help the old ink come off, and at any rate will not do any harm. I use a piece of loofah sponge for daily cleaning. It’s coarse enough to scrub off leftover ink, yet does not hurt the stone.
I also have the mud block from Inkston. The quality is all right, I haven’t met with any nasty surprises (coarse sand). I find that it can be used to „reopen“ the surface of the stone when it has lost its cutting ability, but normally you don’t want to do this all the time. By the way, I don’t exactly see why you could not use it on a round stone – you can always make a paste of the mud with water and polish with it.
If the stone is scratched or otherwise damaged, you can polish the surface using sandpaper, gauge depending on type of stone and desired result. The problem with sandpaper is that it wears the soft and hard parts of the stone equally, leaving a smooth surface with no cutting ability whatsoever. Grinding again with the mud block can help. However scary it sounds, you can even try an abrasive kitchen cleaner that contains milled calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is 3 on the Mohs scale, which will leave intact the hard components of the inkstone. The kind used in kitchen products can be a little coarse, though.
Some new inkstones, usually low or mid-range ones, are sold waxed or just plain unfinished, in which case they too will benefit from sandpaper treatment.
Yes, they can. This will not harm the brush, as long as the hair is in order and not pointing in all directions or stuck between the strips.
Folklore has it that seal paste does not like metal; I ignore the scientific reason behind this, if there’s one. Bone, ceramic, or wooden tools can be used all right.
Your friend’s seal paste indeed looks quite dry. It’s hard to say from the photo if it is still usable, but she can try it. To take better care of seal paste in the future, note that it’s not just a stamp pad. To begin with, it should be stirred every few months. The method of stirring is to roll the paste into a ball. When applying it on the seal, tap the seal gently on the surface of the ball. I looked up a couple of videos for you (not mine):
Stirring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtEh8U2HmSQ
Applying on a seal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yA_wNKHG5w
You can find more by searching for „攪拌印泥“. To store seal paste, I suggest wrapping the entire porcelain box in cling film.^ I think the closest equivalent to petit gris (squirrel) is fine wool. Badger is harder and more coarse.
I’d say any hair is probably going to work, and the choice ultimately depends on your technique and personal preference.
Personally, I’ve used both Western and Chinese brushes to paint Western watercolor. The Western brushes I use the most are squirrel and sable hair, plus the occasional ox hair brush for lifting. Of the Chinese brush hair types, goat hair compares to squirrel, being soft and absorbent. The biggest difference is that Chinese brushes have a more or less sharp tip, while the Western soft brush is usually a blunt mop/wash type. The Chinese „wolf“ hair brush roughly corresponds to the Western sable brush, at least if we’re comparing good ones. A pure wolf brush is not really stiff or hard, just a bit elastic. Again, the tip of a Chinese brush is sharp, while Western sable brushes come in many shapes. I haven’t really used the very stiff and coarse hairs, but they might work for dry brush techniques. Ask yourself what you would like to paint.
