Since 1989 our motto is CALLIGRAPHY WITHOUT BORDERS
Main pages
| Calligraphy in a few words
Writing has been a form of art since the very beginning. The name calligraphy or "clear, beautiful lettering" comes from the Greek and is now used in English not only for Latin based languages, but also Hebrew or Arabic writing, and by default for Chinese and Japanese characters, which have a deeper and more ancient technique. All of them are related to drawing and book illustration (illuminations, ink painting called sumi-e, or manga).
From Roman scribes to medieval scriptoriums through Torah and Coran copyists, the aim is always to show respect to minute rules from the past. All use hard tools on compact surfaces.
In the Far-East, on the contrary, soft hair brushes are used with absorbent papers and natural inks. Therefore there was always more personal liberty in this field.
That's why after the middle of XXth century Western calligraphers started mixing all possible influences to get more exciting results.
Here you'll find all possible tools and also books as methods and examples. |
| History of our company
We have started in 1989 as "Comptoir des écritures", a small shop in Toulouse, where existed a melting pot of civilizations concerned by writing excellence. Beside the famous Scriptorium, where all French professional calligraphers have been teached from 1968, there were masters of all other styles. Therefore our Comptoir des ecritures decided to travel in all possible countries and gather traditional handicrafted writing tools, mediumls and surfaces, learning the know-how at the same time. This had never been dome before at such a level of knowledge mixture.
That's why the small shop became a 200 sqm elegant space neay Pompidou centre in Paris, offering not only all desired products but also workshops and an art gallery devoluted to calligraphy only; masters were the famous Claude Mediavilla, Brody Neuenschwander, Serge Cortesi, Kitty Sabatier, Laurent Pflughaupt, Marine Porte de Sainte-Marie, Ouyang Jiaojia, Yajima Hogetsu, Oinomikado Sachiko, Hassan Massoudy, Abdallah Akar, Frank Lalou and the illuminator Beatrice Balloy. Hundreds of amateurs and specialists have been trained there, many of them becoming professional in their turn.
Because a higher and higher demand for products that we are alone to offer, due to our direct purchasings in the old world, it was necessary to expand our online shop and to close the Parisian shop from may 2011. Perhaps a new outlet will open, some day.
Consequently we are now more than ever able and eager to promote "Calligraphy without borders". |
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Received recently:
- Celadon porcelain bitong (Ref: AN04001)
- Twelve yanliao in inksticks (Ref: CA02022)
- Astounding brush, horse and wood (Ref: CA01234)
- Brush rack, dragon design (Ref: CA04080)
- "The Nine Immortals" colour set (Ref: CA02028)
- Writing set M (Ref: CA05005)
- Mazikeng S (Ref: CA03530)
- Zhuabi with a wooden handle, S (Ref: CA01060)
- Packfung ink box (Ref: AN04700)
- Bear hair brush (Ref: CA01345)
- Writing set, oval (Ref: CA05015)
- Porcelain brush stand (Ref: AN04501)
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