One piece of calligraphy equipment that may be overlooked but is definitely an essential part of the calligrapher’s utensils is the calligraphy pen holder. Holders can be made of wood or plastic with the very rare and very exquisite venetian glass an option too and are often combined with metal fittings.

Holders like the Heintze and Blanckert handle is just a piece of wood around 5 inches long that is flat on one side and bevelled on the others for comfort. This type of pen holder doesn’t have metal fitting to hold the nib in place.

Two main considerations should be taken into account when choosing a calligraphy pen holder. The first is the mechanism that holds the nib in place which might be an arching slit, a metal insert of something more complicated. The second is the barrel of the pen holder, what it’s weight is and the girth not to mention how easily the pen can be gripped. Some plastic pen holders can be very smooth and become slippery after being used for any length of time which causes tension in the hand as the grip tightens.

Some calligraphers prefer to get a pen holder with a cork wrapping or a grooved rubber grip at the point where the fingers grip the barrel. It’s all up to the individual calligrapher and you won’t know how you feel about a particular pen holder until you have felt it in your hand. Some calligraphers prefer to feel a heavy calligraphy pen holder while others would rather a light holder to enable them to feel the nib more keenly.

When you buy a calligraphy set, a calligraphy pen holder will be included with it. You don’t necessarily have to use that pen holder, most times you can buy a pen holder separately and use the nibs that came with the set. However this is not always the case because some pen holders are specific to their manufacturers own nibs. Pelikan nibs can only be used with their own holder because of the complex nature of the connection which involves small metal tongues and hooks that link into one another.

When you’re looking to buy a calligraphy pen holder, try it out by gripping it in the normal posture you would use when writing. Test the weight and feel of the pen after a nib has been inserted. You need to make sure that the gripping device, if there is one, fits tightly to the pen holder surface without any movement. A wobbly pen holder will not be conducive to making crisp straight strokes. Next check that the nib sits straight in alignment with the holder. Any misalignment will prove to be very distracting.

Calligraphy pen holders shouldn’t be particularly high priced items. So when you go out to buy a new calligraphy pen holder, buy several that will be able to meet all your calligraphy demands.