Inkstones Shiyan in Chinese, suzuri in Japanese, the stone allows smooth grinding of the inkstick and helps reorganizing the brush tip for a better result. Therefore it is necessary to have one even for liquid inks. The dark grey Luowen inkstones are for beginners and cheap. The best ones are called Duanyan, or stone from Duan (South of China) , where the caves called Songkeng and Mazikeng are the most famous and still affordable; Mazikeng wears subtle traces, shadows and inclusions that are very popular among collectors as well as the purple and clean Songkeng. NB : obviously enough, all inkstones are different so pictures and descriptions give only an idea of reality.
Paraphernalia Brush stand, brush rest, paperweight, ink nippers etc. form a rich range of humble art servants.
Writing sets While some writing sets are sometimes good only as presents, the smallest ones being for children, the large ones gather the most important objects for a start.
Seals Signing one's name in the Chinese and Japanese world has only a value when the personal seal is added. Some people like to carve it themselves, some ask a specialist to do so. The red greasy paste is used for the stamp not to fade away.
Mounting Works on unsized Oriental paper must be mounted on at least one more sheet of paper so that they look deeper and are flattened for framing. This task, called 'marouflage' in French is made by specialists but not so difficult to learn from books on painting.
