19th Century Porcelain Ink Well

[UnderMiner]

Was excavating a 100+ year old area today and just as the sun began to set I discovered this amazing hand painted porcelain ink well.

It appears to be a type used in the early 19th century for quill pens, though I am still not quite certain as to the proper name for this style of inkwell.

It is overall 4.5 inches wide. The ink chamber is 2.5 inches wide, and the hole for the pen is 1.5 inches wide.

It features hand painted cobalt blue glaze flower patterns with white glaze pettals, there are a total of twenty 6-pointed stars. I was thinking this may be a clue to the inkwell's age as the USA had 20 states in 1817. 20 stars = 20 states maybe.

A view of the four sides:

Freshly excavated:

This is what the bottom looks like.

Close up:

There is a signature of sorts made with the cobalt glaze but the firing processes seems to have blurred it, only the letter K is clearly distinguishable, and next to it perhaps a cursive P or F.

 

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[CoinsAndThings]

Very nice! I'm surprised that it is intact. Great find!

 

[fishstick]

That thing is AMAZING!!!!!! imo that's a banner find 🍻 Congratz......

 

[tamrock]

How nice that it's not just pieces. It's a great find.

 

[UnderMiner]

How nice that it's not just pieces. It's a great find.

The place I dug it from (a 1924-capped dumping area) is full of many intact pieces of 19th century ceramic ware, my theory is people had adopted new fashions around the turn of the 20th century and simply disposed of their 19th century pieces. I know this was historically documented as being true for mid-late 19th century ironstone pottery (which I have found many examples of at this site), as ironstone had been a sort of bootleg porcelain and was considered obsolete by 1900 or so and people simply threw it away - which ironically made ironstone very rare and now it is once again quite prized.

To add credence to this theory I actually found a small intact Victorian pitcher right next to the inkwell which was made by John Maddock & Sons, I just completed some preliminarily research and discovered this company only used this particular stamp prior to 1894. I have a feeling the same person who threw away the pitcher also threw away the inkwell. And the pitcher is intact with a similar cobalt blue glaze though clearly not artisan made as the inkwell was, maybe a younger person inherited their Victorian parent's things and chucked them to make room for some new Roaring 20's era replacements.

 

[Midden-marauder]

Great find! I find much intact glass from the mid 1900s but very, very little intact ceramic beyond old cold cream jars. I swear one day I'm gonna find a whole piece of china, one day. Turnin green over here!

 

[UnderMiner]

Great find! I find much intact glass from the mid 1900s but very, very little intact ceramic beyond old cold cream jars. I swear one day I'm gonna find a whole piece of china, one day. Turnin green over here!

😏 Turning green eh? Hahaha! Here's a picture of just a few of the other trinkets I've dug nearby...

 

[oldmxrat]

Wow, that is a killer spot you're on, and that inkwell is just sublime, big congrats!

 

[Trezurehunter]

Congrats on a great looking ink well.

 

[Midden-marauder]

😏 Turning green eh? Hahaha! Here's a picture of just a few of the other trinkets I've dug nearby... View attachment 2137079

I mean I have a massive collection of early to mid 1900s glass, we actually need to pull it all out of storage for full processing and a group photo, several hundred and not to brag, we just happen to have the antique bottle hookup where I live but that China wear now, that's golden past thought. I do like your collection! I'm definitely a bottle collector of both old and new, those are very nice!

 

[ben ohio]

got to love the old dumps really gets the old heart pumping great dig

 

[Digger RJ]

Was excavating a 100+ year old area today and just as the sun began to set I discovered this amazing hand painted porcelain ink well.

It appears to be a type used in the early 19th century for quill pens, though I am still not quite certain as to the proper name for this style of inkwell.

View attachment 2136932
View attachment 2136933

It is overall 4.5 inches wide. The ink chamber is 2.5 inches wide, and the hole for the pen is 1.5 inches wide.

It features hand painted cobalt blue glaze flower patterns with white glaze pettals, there are a total of twenty 6-pointed stars. I was thinking this may be a clue to the inkwell's age as the USA had 20 states in 1817. 20 stars = 20 states maybe.

A view of the four sides:
View attachment 2136929

Freshly excavated:
View attachment 2136930
View attachment 2136931

View attachment 2136934
This is what the bottom looks like.

Close up:
View attachment 2136935
There is a signature of sorts made with the cobalt glaze but the firing processes seems to have blurred it, only the letter K is clearly distinguishable, and next to it perhaps a cursive P or F.

Nice!!! Congrats!!!!

 

[BennyV]

We should link up. I have a few spots in NYC ready for picking.