In traditional Islamic calligraphy, the main writing instrument is the reed pen. The reed pen or qalam is hollow and needs to be cut and trimmed with a knife before it can be used. As an essential tool of the calligrapher, the knife comprises a steel blade and the handle is made of bone. The steel blades are usually razor sharp and often stamped with the master craftsmen’s signature while the handles are usually hollow and sometimes contain a smaller blade. The handles can be composed of various materials such as highly decorative ivory to jade or quartz or wood to mother of pearls or adorned with metal threads and semi-precious stones.
