| Bistre ink |
A brown ink made by boiling or soaking wood soot in water. Once the liquid is filtered to remove any insoluble residues, the end result is a transparent and luminous ink. The exact tone of the ink depends upon the kind of wood that was burned to create the soot. Chestnut, for example, results in a golden brown ink, while birch produces an ink that is yellowish brown. It is often indistinguishable from faded iron-gall ink. (Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Doubting Thomas, 1961.173) |
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