The World’s Most Revered Inks
Embark on a voyage through history with Jacques Herbin, established over three centuries ago. What began with long-distant journeys and adventures to faraway lands, evolved into one of the oldest French wax and ink factories in the world
Through the centuries
As the years went by, the company expanded its product range, introducing innovations and registering brand names such as Encre violette des écoles de la IIIème République, Perle des encres and Encre des voyageurs. Numerous awards were won at the “great industry exhibitions” in London and Paris.
1670
Our story begins in 17th-century France
Our story begins with Jacques Herbin, a French adventurer who made several voyages to India and returned to Paris with formulas for making sealing wax and ink. In 1670 he founded the House of Jacques Herbin, specialising in sealing wax and fine stationery.
The house stood a stone’s throw from the Louvre, in the quarter of the powerful Marchands Merciers guild, of which it was a member. In the decades that followed, it traded across the Mediterranean and the Levant and as far afield as India. It imported shellac for chancery wax and India ink through the French East India Company’s trading posts at Pondicherry and Mahé.
Reaching India’s Malabar Coast meant a gruelling six-month voyage. Ships faced storms, fever, the dreaded crossing of the Equator, the treacherous Cape of Good Hope, and the constant threat of pirates and English and Dutch warships.
1798
A vision of the future
In the turbulent years after the French Revolution, the house took a gamble that would change its course. While it continued to trade in wax, paper and pigments, Jacques Herbin, a fourth-generation descendant who shared the founder’s name, began producing the house’s own writing inks.
1798–1857
Two generations of craft
Over the next two generations, the family refined its manufacturing methods and shaped the artistic style that still defines Jacques Herbin today: products with character, and inks of exceptional luminosity and nuance, inspired by long sea voyages, faraway colours and spices.
1923
Recognition in Paris
In 1823, Jacques Herbin won a medal at the Paris industrial exhibition for the exceptional quality of its inks and waxes. Throughout the 19th century, the house went on to exhibit at major exhibitions in Paris and London.
2021
A New Chapter
Passed down from father to son through the 20th century, Jacques Herbin joined the Clairefontaine Rhodia group in January 2021. Today we continue to write our story in ink, crafting sealing wax, fine art inks and writing inks in France. Loved by writers and artists around the world, our products still carry something of the journeys that inspired them.
