- Raphael Kolinsky Paint Brushes
- Kolinsky Sable Watercolor Paint Brushes
- Kolinsky Paint Brushes Watercolor
- Genuine Kolinsky Sable Paint Brushes
Watercolor Brushes Reviews Kolinsky Brushes Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable. If you’re looking to purchase your watercolor brushes individually, these from Winsor & Newton are the ones to go for. There are 15 sizes to choose from. A brush’s quality is measured in one of three ways: Point, Snap and Spring, and Flow Control. Kolinsky brushes are not made from sable martens, but rather from the tails of male Siberian weasels, found in Russia and northern China. Siberian weasels don't do well in captivity, so they are obtained by trapping wild animals. Rosemary & Co Artists Brushes Ltd. Carr Head Hall, Carr Head Lane, Cowling, Yorkshire BD22 0LD Telephone: UK: 66 Int : +44 1535 632666 Company Registration No: 05239965.
Kolinsky sable paintbrushes, a favorite ofmany comics artists, have recently become difficult to obtain in the U.S. due toa mysterious import ban. But what's really going on here? And is artists' hunger for sweet, springy sable brushes sending these adorable weasels the way of the dodo?In a word, no—but the actual answer is more complicated than that. I pored over pages and pages of confusing legalese to tryand get to the bottom of it, and here's what I've found so far:
Kolinsky sable brushesare made from the tail of the Siberian weasel, also known as the kolinsky orkolonok, which is a ferret-sized mammal from the weasel family. A quick glanceat Wikipedia and a few other sites indicates that the Siberian weasel isn'tendangered, and is even considered a pest in some areas. So why ban the brushes?
All U.S. tradein products made with animal or plant materials gathered from the wild areregulated by an organization called Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (an awkward mouthful, hereafter known as CITES).This is an international trade treaty with a very wide reach whose 'aim is to ensure that international trade inspecimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of thespecies in the wild.' (Wikipedia)
CITES isseparate from the ICUN conservation status(which is that little indicator that appears under every animal's Wikipedia entry). So even animals that have low-risk conservation status may still be regulatedunder CITES.
From the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service:
'Thebackbone of CITES is the permit system that facilitates internationalcooperation in conservation and trade monitoring. Permits are issued only if acountry’s Management and Scientific Authorities (in the case of the United States,the U.S.Fish & Wildlife Service) determine that trade islegal and does not threaten the species’ survival in the wild. The use ofstandardized permit forms, allows inspection officials at ports of export andimport to quickly verify that CITES specimens are properly documented. They alsofacilitate the collection of species-specific trade data, which are used in thecreation of annual reports. These data are used to determine trends in tradeand ensure that trade in wildlife is sustainable. This trade monitoring hascreated a substantial body of information on the management and use of CITESspecies worldwide.'
CITEScertificates are needed at every import, export,and re-export point; so if your brush is made by artisans in Italy using weasel fur from China, then both the Chinese fur supplier and the Italianbrush company will need CITES certificates to confirm that the materials usedwere collected in an appropriate manner.
Siberianweasels are one of the 35,000 species of animals and plants covered by CITESregulations, and recently, several shipments of Siberian weasel hair were exportedto Europe with invalid documents.Socountries that received these shipments are now unable to issue valid CITESre-export certificates for brushes manufactured with materials from thesespecific shipments, and so these items cannot be lawfully imported into the U.S....
…and I ambetting that once this illegal weasel fur made its way into the supply chain,there was no way to tell which brushes may have been made with it, which has caused huge headaches for the companies effected.
According to aseries of emails from Windsor and Newton published on Arcane Paint Works (fromwhich much of this information was gathered), 'theCITES Management Authority in China is working to ensure that shipmentsof Siberian weasel hair are accompanied by valid CITES documents in thefuture.'
Who knows how long that will take? But ifall of this information is correct, the shortage should be short term. Thepopulation of Siberian weasels is currently quite robust, and organizationslike CITES exist to keep it that way.
Kolinsky sable paintbrushes, a favorite ofmany comics artists, have recently become difficult to obtain in the U.S. due toa mysterious import ban. But what's really going on here? And is artists' hunger for sweet, springy sable brushes sending these adorable weasels the way of the dodo? In a word, no—but the actual answer is more complicated than that. I pored over pages and pages of confusing legalese to tryand get to the bottom of it, and here's what I've found so far:
Kolinsky sable brushesare made from the tail of the Siberian weasel, also known as the kolinsky orkolonok, which is a ferret-sized mammal from the weasel family. A quick glanceat Wikipedia and a few other sites indicates that the Siberian weasel isn'tendangered, and is even considered a pest in some areas. So why ban the brushes?
All U.S. tradein products made with animal or plant materials gathered from the wild areregulated by an organization called Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (an awkward mouthful, hereafter known as CITES).This is an international trade treaty with a very wide reach whose 'aim is to ensure that international trade inspecimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of thespecies in the wild.' (Wikipedia)
CITES isseparate from the ICUN conservation status(which is that little indicator that appears under every animal's Wikipedia entry). So even animals that have low-risk conservation status may still be regulatedunder CITES.
Raphael Kolinsky Paint Brushes
From the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service:
Kolinsky Sable Watercolor Paint Brushes
'Thebackbone of CITES is the permit system that facilitates internationalcooperation in conservation and trade monitoring. Permits are issued only if acountry’s Management and Scientific Authorities (in the case of the United States,the U.S.Fish & Wildlife Service) determine that trade islegal and does not threaten the species’ survival in the wild. The use ofstandardized permit forms, allows inspection officials at ports of export andimport to quickly verify that CITES specimens are properly documented. They alsofacilitate the collection of species-specific trade data, which are used in thecreation of annual reports. These data are used to determine trends in tradeand ensure that trade in wildlife is sustainable. This trade monitoring hascreated a substantial body of information on the management and use of CITESspecies worldwide.'
CITEScertificates are needed at every import, export,and re-export point; so if your brush is made by artisans in Italy using weasel fur from China, then both the Chinese fur supplier and the Italianbrush company will need CITES certificates to confirm that the materials usedwere collected in an appropriate manner.
Siberianweasels are one of the 35,000 species of animals and plants covered by CITESregulations, and recently, several shipments of Siberian weasel hair were exportedto Europe with invalid documents.Socountries that received these shipments are now unable to issue valid CITESre-export certificates for brushes manufactured with materials from thesespecific shipments, and so these items cannot be lawfully imported into the U.S....
…and I ambetting that once this illegal weasel fur made its way into the supply chain,there was no way to tell which brushes may have been made with it, which has caused huge headaches for the companies effected.
Kolinsky Paint Brushes Watercolor
According to aseries of emails from Windsor and Newton published on Arcane Paint Works (fromwhich much of this information was gathered), 'theCITES Management Authority in China is working to ensure that shipmentsof Siberian weasel hair are accompanied by valid CITES documents in thefuture.'
Genuine Kolinsky Sable Paint Brushes
Who knows how long that will take? But ifall of this information is correct, the shortage should be short term. Thepopulation of Siberian weasels is currently quite robust, and organizationslike CITES exist to keep it that way.