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Soft past porcelain was a popular medium due to lower firing temperatures which allowed a wider palette of colors to be used for decoration in the glazing process, this piece being a good example of this since you can see a number of quite brilliant colors in the clothing & furniture (very beautiful).
This piece consists of a base with both ink insert and pounce pot receptacles, but are missing the inserts (considering it's over 180-years old, not unusual to find these missing), the front of the receptacles have faces of what looks like royalty (male/king?) & have metallic gold decoration, dip pens can also be stored in front of the receptacles (lots of room inside when the cover unit is on), base is approx. 8"W x 10-1/2"L in an semi-oval shape. When covered, the unit stands approx. 8-3/4"H, so the whole inkstand is large in size, overall weight is 6-lbs/13.3-oz, so not a lightweight piece!
The cover consists of an upper class family in Colonial England dress around a table with a chess board, father & mother are engaged in the game as daughter stands & watches, father's tri-corner hat & cane rest on the ground by his feet, daughter holds a handkerchief while both mother & father rest one elbow on ornate gaming table, clothing on all three people has raised gold & silver treatments so not only is it visually beautiful but also appealing to the touch, matter of fact, the whole presentation is mesmerizing (at least to me it is!).
As far as flaws, it looks like some of the tiny chess pieces have snapped off, so they appear smaller than they should be & have a rougher texture to the top of them, there is a hairline split in the shell to the right of the mother at the bottom of the cover & appears to be old due the darkness of the line, the split has been treated with an injected epoxy so seems to be fairly stabilized (hasn't grown over the past 25+ years I've had it & has survived several moves!), shows you how strong porcelain really is!
All in all, a beautiful inkstand, over 180-years old and even with a few flaws (none being obtrusive, in my opinion), still brilliant colors, stimulating both visually and to the touch, historically appealing as it shows a slice of life in Colonial England, a wonderful addition to any desk or inkwell collection, overall condition is very good...
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PenEmporium Price...$450.00
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Price includes shipping to both U.S. and International destinations. I accept PayPal Cash Transfer and PayPal Credit/Debit Card, but no checks or money orders at this time (sorry!). Merchandise will be shipped when payment clears PayPal system. Please e-mail me at docnib@msn.com if you'd like this item or if any questions.
Thanks For Looking!
DOC
This post has been edited by DocNib: 05 November 2009 - 11:03 PM
