Restoring Separated Indian Ink: Possible?

[Rednaxela]

Hello all,

 

Today someone gave me this lovely little vintage Indian ink bottle.

 

 

Unfortunately the ink inside was separated, showing a solid layer of pigment sticking to the bottom with roughly the same amount of dirty water on top of it.

 

 

With a small stick I was able to stir it all up a little, and after thoroughly shaking it, the bottom of the bottle looks pretty clean again when held upside down. However the end result is not what I would call ink (yet?), as it is better described as the same dirty water now having lots of tiny black particles floating around.

 

Is there any chance to turn this back into the ink it once was?

 

Any advice would be much appreciated!

[JefferyS]

I would expect that, even with shaking of the bottle, much of the carbon may be clumped together in microscopic spheres. In my biology labs, I demonstrate Brownian Movement by having the students view a drop of India Ink under 400X of a microscope. Older bottles of Higgins ink are usually filled with small blobs, while new bottles of ink have the carbon particles free and jiggling madly. From a practical standpoint, I would see no reason to use vintage India Ink.

[Sasha Royale]

If you like the bottle, flush it clean. Wash. Dry. Fill with your favorite ink. Otherwise, give it to someone you hate. No waste.

[Rednaxela]

Thank you both. I'll stop trying.

 

I'm still a bit in doubt what to do with it. The bottle is very nice but also very small. I think size-wise it is comparable to this 11ml Talens bottle, which is way too small for my oblique holder.

 

 

However, the lid seems to have some sort of eyedropper attached. It's a hollow tube which is cut off at an angle, and reaching almost to the bottom of the bottle. It looks like it is meant for loading ink to the nib, but I'm not sure how to use it properly. I guess you dip it and then touch the nib with it, but where exactly? In any case, if this proves to be useful I could replace the ink indeed.

 

Alternatively I could try and sell it as a vintage curiosum. In that case I'll leave the original ink inside.

 

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts!

[Rednaxela]

The bottle, the lid, and my pen.