Inktend / Ink library / Shikumen
Shikumen
Shanghai Stationary is one of the 713 brands in Inktend's built-in ink catalog.
Paper & pairing
Browns tend to photograph and scan a little darker than they look in person, worth testing before using one for anything that will be digitized. This ink will behave predictably on most fountain-pen-friendly paper. Cheap, highly absorbent paper (standard copier paper) will dull any ink's saturation and can cause feathering or bleed-through with wetter nibs.
About Shanghai Stationary
Shanghai Stationary is a stationery brand based in a small town in the middle of the Netherlands, run by Astrid and Emile under the motto "we met in Shanghai, but we make in The Netherlands." The company produces its own line of around 30 fountain pen inks in 50ml bottles alongside handcrafted books, notebooks and calligraphy and art tools, and it also offers bookbinding and ink workshops.
Storing and using the bottle
Bottled fountain pen ink has an effectively long shelf life when kept capped and out of direct sunlight: most inks remain usable for years. The main risk isn't the ink spoiling, it's a pen sitting inked and unused for weeks: that's what causes clogs, not the ink's age.
Frequently asked questions
Similar shades By colour distance
Color shown is a close digital approximation of a typical swatch, not a calibrated color match.