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What is this for?


Rique

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I´ve found many objects like this on ebay or flea markets, but no one seems to know exactly what they are for. The two grooves on the front are obviously pen-rests. But what are the two holes on the top? One seller told me they are a container for paper clips or other small objects; I don´t believe this. Another one told me they are ink wells, which is even less likely... Are any parts missing from this? And what is the meaning of the letters P and E on the top?

Any suggestions?

 

PS: this thing is in bakelite, but I´ve seen many others in glass.

post-4-1134494668_thumb.jpg

Edited by Rique
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I´ve found many objects like this on ebay or flea markets, but no one seems to know exactly what they are for. The two grooves on the front are obviously pen-rests. But what are the two holes on the top? One seller told me they are a container for paper clips or other small objects; I don´t believe this. Another one told me they are ink wells, which is even less likely... Are any parts missing from this? And what is the meaning of the letters P and E on the top?

Any suggestions?

 

PS: this thing is in bakelite, but I´ve seen many others in glass.

No I think you are on the right track with inkwell. There are probably two missing ink inserts and a lid. This would be for an accountant with one side red and the other side black to do bookkeeping with. The E & P might be a company name.

 

Kurt H

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Expenditures and profits, more likely -- with the ink in the left well likely being red, the right being black.

That sounds like the mystery is solved!

 

K

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Expenditures and profits, more likely -- with the ink in the left well likely being red, the right being black.

That sounds like the mystery is solved!

 

K

No, that doesn't work for keeping books. Receipts and Expenditures... or something along that line would be more fitting. Profits would only be the "net" line of an income statement and hardly deserving of its own ink source. But, I do think the thing is a holder/well combo. The lettering is a mystery

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I am not, alas, an accountant, and sometimes I get these words mixed up. :)

Hey, you are darn good at solving puzzles. "Proceeds & Expenditures"... that would seem pefectly logical.

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Another possibility is that it is not English - are there any other imprints on it? Anybody think of any ideas in other languages?

 

John

So if you have a lot of ink,

You should get a Yink, I think.

 

- Dr Suess

 

Always looking for pens by Baird-North, Charles Ingersoll, and nibs marked "CHI"

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Another possibility is that it is not English - are there any other imprints on it? Anybody think of any ideas in other languages?

 

John

Well, it could be that the "P" is an "R" in Russian...

Remember "Murder on the Orient Express" ? :lol:

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I didn´t suspect you would have so much fun about this non-identified object...

Anyway, thanks for the replies, and I think you are probably right: this thing is probably a ink well. This is the third one I find this year (the other two were in glass), but none of them includes the ink recipients. The dealer was asking for 30 USD, and I found that was rather too much for something that either

1) we don´t know what it is for

2) we do know what it is for, but it is incomplete :)

 

 

regards,

Rique

Edited by Rique
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I'm not that convinced that it is incomplete. School inkwells in France for example never had a lid.

It might not be a lid but rather 2 glass inserts for the ink that are missing.

 

K

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Guest Denis Richard
I'm not that convinced that it is incomplete. School inkwells in France for example never had a lid.

It might not be a lid but rather 2 glass inserts for the ink that are missing.

 

K

I think the ink could well have been poored directly in those wells. After all, the school inkwells I know of were just little open pots made of porcelaine. There isn't really the need for a glass insert. Of course, there could have been inserts, but if all models Rique found are insert-less, I would bet that they were designed like that.

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