A kolinsky sable-hair brush (also known as ''red sable'' or ''sable hair brush'') is a fine

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

paintbrush A paintbrush is a brush used to apply paint or ink. A paintbrush is usually made by clamping bristles to a handle with a ferrule. They are available in various sizes, shapes, and materials. Thicker ones are used for filling in, and thinner ones ...

. The hair is obtained from the tail of the kolinsky (''Mustela sibirica''), a species of

weasel Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...

, rather than an actual

sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...

. The "finest" brushes are made from the male hair only, but most brushes have a mix of about 60/40 male-to-female hair. Kolinsky bristles tend to be pale red in colour with darker tips. The weasel is not an animal that is raised well in captivity, and is generally isolated to the geographical region of Siberia. Due to this difficulty in harvesting the hair, and the fact that other natural and artificial bristles are not comparable in quality, these bristles are rare and expensive. Kolinsky sables are usually used in watercolour brushes. Lesser grades of kolinsky sables are also frequently used in oil painting, and sometimes for glazing in acrylics. The brushes are also often sought after in

figure painting A figure painting is a work of fine art in any of the Painting#Painting media, painting media with the primary subject being the human figure, whether clothed or Nude (art), nude. Figure painting may also refer to the activity of creating such ...

for their ability to hold a fine tip and an appropriate amount of paint and moisture. Due to their exceptional ability to be finely shaped, kolinsky sable brushes are highly prized in the dental ceramics industry, where they are used to hand-tint the ceramic appliances for a realistic appearance. Beginning in 2013, shipments to the U.S. of kolinsky hair brushes were halted and in some cases seized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service due to the kolinsky's inclusion in the international

CITES CITES (shorter acronym for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of inte ...

agreement, although kolinsky is neither threatened nor endangered.

References

Painting materials {{art-material-stub

See also

References