A round brush shape made from the finest select kolinsky sable fur designed with an extra long, fine tip. This brush will base paint and detail a stroke design with ease. The fine tip can easily be pressed open for vermiculation details when desired.
Because of its strength, spring, and ability to hold fine points and edges, sable is considered the finest fiber for painting with watercolors and oil paints. Kolinsky is a more expensive, professional grade of sable that, if properly cared for, will last for many years.
Important Note: Kolinsky brushes are not made from sable martens, but rather from the tails of male Siberian weasels, found in Russia and northern China. Traditionally the fibers were obtained by trapping wild animals. However the status of the fibers is in doubt after its inclusion in CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). This makes it extremely difficult to try and manufacture any new brushes that include the fiber. European farms do raise the animals domestically for this use but it is impossible to genetically tell the difference between the farmed and the listed threatened weasels.
We have always loved our Kolinsky Sable brushes, and all of ours were manufactured before the ban, however we have made the decision to no longer manufacture them. If you can’t reliably tell the difference, we ethically don't want to take a chance of importing hair from an animal that may be at risk.
There are excellent synthetic replacements being developed and we'll be releasing a line of those soon.