Scholar's Objects & Calligraphy

Ink ground on stone with a little water, before a single word is written. Scholar’s objects and calligraphy tools here come mostly from China, with Hausa Qur’anic boards from Nigeria and Niger and an Oromo writing board from Ethiopia. The Chinese scholar’s desk was built around the four treasures of the study: brush, ink, paper and inkstone. Here are calligraphy brushes from Hebei in bamboo, wood and lacquer, inkstones carved with landscapes, a lidded 19th century inkstone and bamboo brush pots.

Crystal brushwashers shaped as lotus pods and blossoming roots, a Peking glass brush rest, an elm brush stand with a phoenix and soapstone monastery seals carved with Quan Yin, a lohan, the Buddha and a dragon turtle fill out the desk. The Hausa boards, used for teaching Qur’anic verse and by diviners, were written on, washed and written on again. Set brushes in a pot by a window, or lean a writing board against a wall. A desk that makes good handwriting feel briefly possible.