The 18th Century Quill Pen and Ink and Paper
Paintings like Sir Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Dr John Ash and Arthur Devis’ Woman in Dark Blue feature quill pens with ink and paper to emphasize the importance of literacy and writing in 18th-century society.
Quill pens were an indispensable tool for those writing letters, yet cutting and curing them required skillful craftsmanship.
It was a symbol of education
Writing was both an effective form of communication and learning in the eighteenth century. A popular tool used for both was the quill pen – an instrument composed of five outer feathers of goose or swan wings that could be dipped into an inkwell to produce letters – making its use an indicator of wealth and education.
Paintings of the time, such as Joshua Reynolds’ Portrait of Dr John Ash by Devis, portray people using quill pens with inkwells and sheets of paper nearby – these were often associated with education and higher social classes.
Although not widely accessible, the quill pen remained an iconic symbol of education and learning as evidenced by this advertisement from 1799. Making one required great skill and could only be attempted by skilled artisans; making quill pens was therefore only affordable to the elite few.
It was a symbol of freedom
Pens were symbols of education and high social class during the eighteenth century, often associated with ink and paper as depicted on paintings such as Portrait of Dr John Ash by Joshua Reynolds or Arthur Devis’ Woman Painter.
Feather pens were only popular among people of certain social status and could be expensive, particularly those made with swan feathers. Additionally, feather pens required living birds’ feathers that had five large feathers from one wing for use as pen tip feathers that could then be cut to point and hollowed out at each end for use as writing implements.
Quill pens were connected to an inkwell, and when writing, would dip their nib into ink before writing with it. These quill pens remained the primary tool for written communication until steel pen nibs became widely used during the 19th century; until that point they served their function effectively.
It was a symbol of power
The quill pen was an iconic symbol of power and learning during the 18th century, favoured by people from upper classes as an essential tool for writing manuscripts and treaties by scribes. This writing instrument remained favored until nibbed pens became more widely used in 19th century Europe.
A pen was traditionally constructed using the feather from a large bird like a crow, goose, owl or hawk’s wing feather that had fallen out after flying, then hardened with 180degF hot sand for durability. Right handed people typically preferred using it.
Numerous paintings during this era depict the use of quill pens, including Portrait of Dr John Ash by Joshua Reynolds and Portrait of a Woman in Dark Blue by Arthur Devis. Joseph Highmore also painted an inkwell filled with sheets of paper representing “the pen is mightier than the sword”, symbolizing wealth and prestige through this quill pen symbolism.
It was a symbol of labour
Not surprisingly, in the eighteenth century there was an intimate link between pen, ink and paper – as pens would be ineffectual without ink and paper to write on! Furthermore, paintings often depicted these three words together.
The 18th century saw major advances in quill pen technology. For instance, it saw the debut of metal nib pens attached to handles; although this new type was cheaper than its quill counterparts it still required skillful manipulation to work effectively.
One must learn to cut a quill correctly to achieve an incisive point, using primary flight feathers shed by birds during annual moult cycles as source materials. Pen were typically created from five outer feathers of goose or swan wings – those from left wings were preferred since their curve away from the writer was preferred.
