J. Herbin Bouquet d'Antan

[umenohana]

This is the last of the four samples I got from Pear Tree Pen Company. I had a hectic week-- what a great way to unwind this is! And sorry if the flourishing is sloppy.. I'm very new to it.

 

The color immediately reminded me of this poem by Onono-komachi. The "hana (flower)" in this poem is the sakura (cherry blossom). It also reminds me of soggy sakura petals, this ink.

 

English translation:

 

The flowers withered

Their color faded away

While meaninglessly

I spent my days in the world

And the long rains were falling

 

Translated by: Donald Keene

 

Paper: Clairefontaine

Pen: Miss Swan

Co-starring Mr. G-pen dip nib for the comparison inks.

 

-Hana

Edited March 9, 2007 by umenohana

[umenohana]

The shading is what makes this ink legible.

 

I would only recommend this ink for flex/wet nibs. Makes great hairlines, as Herbin usually does.

[umenohana]

Cotton swabs samples with other French named inks. (That's not why I picked them, though! ) See how incredibly faint the Bouquet d'Antan is on the one layer swab?

 

Montblanc Je t'aime and Bordeaux

 

-Hana

 

edit: emphasis

 

edit 2: Added text of ink names so that people may find the swab samples in search engine later.

Edited March 10, 2007 by umenohana

[umenohana]

Bouquet d'Antan is probably the lightest ink I've ever tried. If it were a little bit warmer in color, I'd love it. I've tried PR Shell Pink-- way too brilliant for me. (It was also very light, too)

 

-Hana

[jbb]

Always so pretty!!!!!!! Thank you.

[DennisU]

Your reviews are pure magic Hana! Thank you!

[Lloyd]

QUOTE (umenohana @ Mar 9 2007, 06:24 PM)

...sorry if the flourishing is sloppy...

Oh, it is just hideous .

 

C'mon, I should be sending you $$$ for the opportunity to look at your beautiful writing.

[johnr55]

As usual, Hana, I can't decide which is better--your artwork or your beautiful writing! Thanks for sharing with us.

[ProfMike]

Absolutely gorgeous, as always Thanks for sharing!

 

All the best,

Mike

[Jared]

Lovely, Hana. I always appreciate ink reviews done in your beautiful style.

 

Jared

[umenohana]

Thank you all for your generous comments! Has anyone else used this ink?

 

jbb-- The happy flourishes in your letters made me want to try them myself.

 

Lloyd-- The flourishing was pretty much un-planned; I made it up as I wrote. I don't do pencil planning with ink reviews 'cause a.) I'm lazy and b.) the inks I do are usually see-through.

 

-Hana

 

edit: smiley in wrong place

Edited March 10, 2007 by umenohana

[Taki]

Hana-san, Beautiful review!

 

I've mixred this ink with a small amount of Waterman Havana so that it's warmer and legible

[umenohana]

QUOTE (Taki @ Mar 9 2007, 07:11 PM)

Hana-san, Beautiful review! I've mixred this ink with a small amount of Waterman Havana so that it's warmer and legible

Oh! Sounds great-- do you have a scan?

 

-Hana

[FrankB]

I look forward to your reviews, Hana. Thanks again.

 

I think Bouquet d'Antan is one of Herbin's nicest new colors. I call the color tone pastel, but I am a sereotypical male with little sense of color. I have found that this ink writes a darker line with finer nibs. I have tried it in a MB 146 and a Waterman Hundred Year Pen both with F nibs, and the ink came out looking almost a dark rust color. No kiding. And that color is consistent through three refills in each pen.

 

I like the variations on this color from different pens so much I bought two more bottles recently.

[HyperCamper]

Very, very nice review, Hana...

[DilettanteG]

As much as I love inks (maybe obsessed would be a better word), I always eagerly click on your reviews just to admire your amazing writing! It generally sells me on any ink you happen to be using at the time. Ink companies should sponser you!

[J English Smith]

I just tried this ink last night (along with Vert Olive) and I wish I'd read your review first! It is so pale that I don't think I can use it - very very light and feminine - I tried it in four different pens convinced that something was wrong with my pens, the ink was so pale. I wasn't thrilled with the Vert Olive either but I am warming up to it. The Bouquet, I may need to sell. I imagine in a flex pen with a wide nib, the ink would be rather nice...unfortunately I don't have any of those!

 

I may try the mix attempt with Havana Brown as noted to see if I can darken this up enough to use...

 

I now have four Herbin inks - they all are quite pale/thin compared to other inks that I use - definitely their own palette of color -

[J English Smith]

If anyone knows of any other good inks to mix this with to darken it up, I'd be interested to hear of successes...

 

I was wondering how it would mix with Private Reserve Plum, for instance...? Is mixing Herbin and PR inks problematic in any way?

 

 

[JakobS]

If anyone knows of any other good inks to mix this with to darken it up, I'd be interested to hear of successes...

 

I was wondering how it would mix with Private Reserve Plum, for instance...? Is mixing Herbin and PR inks problematic in any way?

 

Being that both J Herbin and PR inks are PH neutral mixing them should cause very little problems if any. So, I would say go ahead and experiment!

 

Hana, beautiful review and for not planning on doing the flourishing, it came out really great.

Edited January 4, 2009 by JakobS

[J English Smith]

Thanks, Jakob. Just now, I mixed it about 50/50 with some old PR Burgundy Mist that had turned dark and I'm rather pleased with the result. It flows better than the Herbin does alone and is kind of a dusky purple - I have dubbed it "Wine Stain." You can actually see the ink as opposed to the original Bouquet color! I had tried combining it with another light Herbin rose ink but it was still too light.

 

I'll try and remember to post a scan tomorrow. It's close to FPN Tulipe Noir shade, but lighter.