Greetings, FPNers - I have a nifty new (old) inkwell, but its anatomy has stumped me. I'm attaching a picture of the thing assembled, and then disassembled. I haven't a clue what the center black bottle-shaped piece (2nd picture) is for: it has two loose parts inside, a quarter-shaped piece of glass on the bottom, and a small floating "stopper" in the neck. Is it just an elaborate way to keep the user from plunging the pen messily into the deepest part of the well? I've never used one of these things, in case you couldn't tell.

MM

(Modified to attach smaller photos - I hope.)

Wow - sorry about the ginormous, larger-than-life photos. I thought I'd reduced them! I'll see if I can replace them with something daintier.
MM

Marmat,

Welcome to FPN from the ever so smoky foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. I think you're correct in your assumtion that it's "just an elaborate way to keep the user from plunging the pen messily into the deepest part of the well." Are you a dip pen user? I use dip pens and fountain pens about 50-50.

I join you in smokiness in Solano County, CA! Are you getting other-worldly red sunsets, too? Thanks for the reply. I realized recently that I own a dip pen - I have one of those deskset Esterbrook dippers packed away somewhere - but I do not yet qualify as a "user." This will give me more reason to go through boxes of trinkets we didn't bother to unpack after our last move.
MM

Those were advertised as "self filling" and "self closing" inkwells. They were used in places where ink was needed all day and people didn't want to uncap a regular inkwell or bottle. The floating thing closed off the ink supply from the air so evaporation wasn't such a big problem.

Some of these inkwells were "unspillable" too. These would be put in places where the public could use them. That may be the function of the glass piece in the bottom.

The US Postal Service used to use inkwells with a similar design. Theirs were let into the desktop and locked in place so people couldn't swipe them. You needed a pen with a rather heavy nib to poke down the float and let ink come up. Many places used a Sheaffer Fineline desk pen without a reservoir for this use.

Paddler

Thank you! Great, and interesting, info! I hope to unearth an old desk pen I think I have stored away, so I can play with this.