Shanghai Stationary Queenmother of the West — 4ml Fountain Pen Ink Sample

Hue: A muted, dusty taupe with a distinct mauve-purple cast. The manufacturer tags it as mauve and taupe, which matches what I see, a soft, greyed, low-saturation shade. Written at normal line width it reads noticeably lighter and warmer, closer to a grey-brown, than the pooled swatches suggest. Where the ink pools heavily it separates out to a deep violet-indigo edge against the dusty mauve body.

Shading: Strong. There's a wide range between the pale, warm ends of the stroke and the deep, near-black pooling, and the separation into violet at the edges of the drops gives it real character.

Sheen: None.

Shimmer: None.

Flow: Medium.

The interesting bit: The Queen Mother of the West — Xiwangmu — is one of the oldest deities in the Chinese record. The earliest historical trace of her comes from Shang dynasty oracle bone inscriptions recording sacrifices to a "Western Mother", which puts her ahead of organised Taoism, though she's most often associated with it. She holds court in a palace on the mythological Mount Kunlun, and she's linked to an orchard of longevity peaches said to ripen once every three thousand years. She's a goddess of life and immortality, worshipped across Asia under a long list of names — Divine Mother, Golden Mother of the Jade Pond, Lady Queen Mother, or simply Amah. Shanghai Stationary itself is a small family operation: Astrid and Emile make all their inks in the Netherlands, and their motto is that they met in Shanghai but make in the Netherlands.

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.