J Herbin Terre de Feu - 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample

Hue: J. Herbin describes it as a brown with a red tone. My swatches read noticeably redder and deeper than that: closer to oxblood or maroon than brown. The writing sample sits at a dusky red-brown, and the heavier swabs show a plum-purple undertone.

Shading: Good. There's clear light-to-dark variation in the writing and swab bar, and lighter strokes lean rosier.

Sheen: None in normal writing.

Shimmer: None.

Flow: Medium

The interesting bit: Terre de Feu is French for Tierra del Fuego, the "Land of Fire". That's the archipelago at the southern tip of South America, split between Argentina and Chile. Magellan's crew named it in 1520 after the fires they saw burning along the shore, lit by the islands' Indigenous people. Herbin says the colour is a nod to the region's burnt lands and barren deserts. J. Herbin itself dates back to 1670 in Paris, which makes it one of the oldest names in ink.

This is a hand-decanted 4ml sample vial from my own bottle.
Photos are my own swatches on Tomoe River Paper.
I'm a collector and I'm always happy to talk ink, so please message me if you have any questions.