Come Hell Or High Water, Traveling Inkwell

[Bo Bo Olson]

I've had a great traveling inkwell slide past me because of a fault of the auction house. It was stagecoach proof.

A lesser traveling ink well because someone spent a fortune on it....a hell of a lot more than it was worth....more than the one I 'lost' to the auction house.

 

Wife is standing in my corner....my birthday present.......the last time that happened with pens was when she bought me a MB Woolf.....with 'our' money.

That last part was small print.

Didn't buy even a cheap pen, ink or piece of paper for some 9 months.....in that Woolf was way higher than anything before or since.

 

Leather covered.....in great shape. Traveling inkwell, with roller....glass inkwell, and a place for stamps or spare nibs. The brush is to clean your nib.

I'll be able to take that with me, if I ever kick this fountain pen habit, and go traveling.

 

Edited May 18, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[carlos.q]

What an interesting inkwell! Do you have any idea the time period when this was used?

[Bo Bo Olson]

I think '20-30's in more folks traveled then..............the stamp holder is very nice.....don't see it as a nib holder.

:headsmack:I forgot to ask. All I was, was .

 

The roller is very interesting.

It is a tad big for a vest pocket, though they did have big vest pockets also. Coat pockets use to be quite large back then too....many carried a small pistol in one.

 

The other two I had had an interest in were smaller but as tall.

The ink well could take two loads of ink. I'll try it out...

[dennis_f]

I love this! Dignified and stylish... I wish something like this were still available.

D.

[Anne-Sophie]

Very beautiful! Does it have any manufacturer's mark or have you been able to find anything about its provenance?

[Bo Bo Olson]

Just it's from the '20's...when win it I can look harder fro a manufaturer's mark.

 

This next set of pictures is like the one that got away. The one that got away was much better shape. In this one the ink well is not perfect....and in in B or C shape.

It's going for buy now and E100 but there is a better one, I should have taken that picture had I looked today, going for only E48. Buy Now!!!!

273835554857

Takes paypal and sends worldwide or next to it.....a much better one.....If I wasn't going to that live auction...that is the one I'd grab in a heartbeat. B+ shape.....nearly A-

It's been two minutes since you have read this.......not bought it already?????

They are claiming 1880 or 1890 for those two.

Edited May 19, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[Anne-Sophie]

The one you got, from the 20's is much better than the older version. The roller, the brush and the stamp holder are just cute. The metal work on the inkwell cap as well as the stamp holder is very nice.

 

Would you mind posting close up pictures, when you get the item?

[dennis_f]

I agree with Anne-Sophie: I prefer the red leather, and the added extras are both useful and fun. And the engraving is a nice touch.

[purplepen]

Beautiful - love anything ink/pen related !

[Bo Bo Olson]

I'll see what I can do, & agree the red one has a bit more class, but that 1890's traveling inkwell for only E-48 is a steal.

 

Tintenfass is German for Inkwell.

Reisen Tintenfass, is a traveling inkwell a couple days before there was one similar to the one I'm after on German Ebay but not as classy. Just in case you want to look at some; there are more.

[Bo Bo Olson]

High water didn't reach Hell, so the ice didn't melt............the Norse had a cold hell.

My wife talked the guy sitting next to us out of bidding..........so we got it for start bid of E-75 plus 25% auction cost.

 

The camera is loading, soon I'll take a picture showing the engraving patterns.

 

I spend nearly as much on a old silver owl black silk watch fob, and right after the auction nearly twice as much on a rectangular translucent orange agate Chalcedony gold framed&gold chain fob, that looked so much better than the picture.

Now..... I need a half dozen vests to hang chains I have and finally the fobs from.

 

In the meanwhile, that's why jeans have a watch pocket.

Edited May 25, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[Bo Bo Olson]

The difference between someone who can take a picture and me is so

 

 

 

 

Someone wanted to see the engraving of the brass insides.

 

 

 

 

 

For the sheer hell of it one of my very pretty inkwells......'20s?

A couple normal ink wells, the square one is sterling top, and crystal. The other is the classic 1890-1915 or 20's Dock bollard style....but is only nicely silver plated. The brown brush is to clean a nib with...........The two spikes will hold a pen on the ink well.

.........I only have photographed half of my inkwells.

Been promising to record them for quite a long while.

[Anne-Sophie]

Thank you for sharing the detail of the engraved work on the portable inkwell.

 

It would be so nice, if you could share pictures of you whole collection.

 

The detailed photo of your avatar, really shows details I have never seen on the inkwells, especially the brush and pen holding spikes on the inkwell.

 

The pretty inkwell might be Art Nouveau because of the leaf like lid and the nature inspired designs in the body.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Anne-Sophie, when one goes looking for words one has heard but not read....what ever term I was looking for I didn't find.

The wildness of the body of the inkwell, is a bit too wild....I'd guess for Art Nouveau. the top a bit too Art Nouveau for Art Decco and the body could/should be more geometrical.

There is a 'style' between Art Nouveau and Art Decco.....but I forgot it. Not Belle Époque, but right after it (( ))) , just before WW1....but I WOG 1920's for that Ink Well.

:headsmack:Belle Époque according to Wiki started after 1870......OK....but there is something between Art Nouveau and Art Deco.

 

 

 

Design Movements Timeline

Things start ten years before I think they do by that scale.....ok I'm flexible.....

Don't have many of my Art Nouveau ones in pictures. Have a couple more in porcelain from that era.

 

1915 given to a war plant manager after a major Eastern Front battle win. Realism. A foot high.

 

Here is a few Art Deco inkwell sets,

Fire gilded and black glass and crystal.....Art Deco...but is pure enough to be Bauhaus if one wants to argue. I think it Art Deco.

1925 French Art Deco, Birdseye maple vernier.

 

Bauhaus. I have some 3-4 others also.

 

 

 

 

Gelsenkirchener Barock....is a put down...flatland hillbilly style. The roundish circle in the middle glass is from the light. It was my first ink well set. Mahogany with a narrow brass insert frame. '30's.

Edited May 26, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[dennis_f]

Thanks for posting these Bo Bo. They're all so lovely. And I rarely get to see vintage bottles and desk sets like these. Even the antique stores that carry vintage pens near where I live (and there's not a lot of them) don't carry inkwells. Maybe they didn't catch on in North America to the same extent as Europe... and thus there are fewer vintage sets floating around now?

 

Wouldn't it be nice if some contemporary manufacturers started producing desk inkwells? I know Montblanc has a dedicated inkwell that comes with one of their desk sets -- it's a square crystal bottle with the large black cap (I've seen images posted here on FPN) -- but I can't think of any other manufacturer that's done something similar in the past couple of decades.

 

Your Art Nouveau-Art Deco puzzle is starting to eat away at me... For the life of me I can't think of the name (and I should really know this). Perhaps you're thinking of the Arts and Crafts movement (though that overlaps both of the other two, I think... and kind of stands apart).

 

I had to google it; Wikipedia says Art Nouveau lasted until around 1910, and Art Deco "started just before WW1". Are we sure there's something between the two?

 

There was also the Futurist movement, though, like the Arts and Crafts, it straddled the time frame of the other two...

 

This will bother me all day long!

[Bo Bo Olson]

Good, maybe we can come up with an answer.

It wasn't Arts and Craft....something I've come to like a lot....not that I have any.

I like the satinwood Sheraton also.

Some 30 &35 years ago we bought some German furniture at bargain prices from @ 1900, more Gelsenkirchener Barock, in that was what 'normal' folks could afford....more lower middle class, in the workers couldn't have afforded even that. The Germans didn't have built in cabinets...illegal, one could rent it out as a bed....and once times were that hard.

 

The price of furniture has fallen with the last Depression, and no one has homes big enough for some of the pieces. Things I saw go for E 30,000 can be had for only E 3,000.....but my castle is too small and using room expanders is illegal here in Germany..... ...then that eats big time into my penmoney.

 

"""I know Montblanc has a dedicated inkwell that comes with one of their desk sets -- it's a square crystal bottle with the large black cap (I've seen images posted here on FPN)""""

Even second hand in auctions they are very, very $$$$$. I once bid on one, single inkwell MB set, and it went for 3 X my max on that. After that watched another couple go for a good half of what one costs new, crossed them from my 'want' list.

 

Within the last year of so in Germany pewter inkwells in live auctions suddenly jumped from E-20-30 or to to E 75-100-150...for real good ones.

But some folks are investing in antiques in banks don't pay.

There was a whole slew and I'd wanted two or three perhaps even a couple more, .... but didn't win a single one. Someone had died and had a large collection; some very fine.

 

I'd notice a jump in inkwell collectors even in bronze or brass for the good ones..... and I didn't buy enough when cheap enough to afford. (sadly one has to buy pens...inks and papers...) I only have a couple that have tight lids, or screw on tops to let inks wait for use.

The only problem with ink wells, is they will dehydrate if not used weekly.....back to the old days of two pens if in business..............or just put one ink in the inkwell if single and use it up.

 

The US had good inkwells and sets, I'd seen some on Ebay, but the shipping to Germany would have matched the buying price.

[dennis_f]

I'm not surprised that demand for inkwells has increased recently. I imagine it's a result of the growth in fountain pen sales having lead to more people being curious about (or in need of) other pen paraphernalia.

 

There are a lot of great bottles on the market -- I'm thinking of the Lamy bottle with it's deep well and built in blotter paper dispenser, and the Montblanc "shoe", and the latest TWSBI bottles -- but still, one wants a nicer inkwell sometimes, to have on hand on the desk.

 

That's crazy about furniture prices in Germany. Something similar is happening in North America. Here, a lot of the wood furniture that was popular and valuable inthe 60s, 70s, and 80s -- good handcrafted solid pieces -- is no longer in demand. It's either too large for smaller homes, or too pricey, or too heavy to move... or it just reminds younger people of their parents' or grandparents' homes (and thus, seems hopelessly out of date/fashion). As a result, prices on very expensive pieces are dropping like a stone and in a lot of cases have become impossible to resell.

 

Still, that said, good mid-century modern pieces are increasing in value. I have a friend who owns a few authentic William Morris chairs (certified antiques at this point, and definitely not in style) and yet their prices keep increasing.

 

As for the Nouveau/Deco conundrum... I think I'm going to have to sleep on it. I'm resisting searching the internet for an answer.

[Bo Bo Olson]

An Older Lamy Bottle....pre'90's in the packages says W. Germany. Have them in blue and turquoise. I have the new bottle in Turquoise. Once Lamy turquoise was the basis color all tur2qoise were compared too.

I had some and said, nice color but a bit Blaaa.....then I went and looked in Ink Reviews and it shaded ....but on 90g paper. That is the key to shading inks....it has to be 90g or better.

[Anne-Sophie]

I think that the interest, about everything writing or journaling related, has experienced a boom since the beginning of this century.

 

From typewriters to fountain pens and journals and everything associated to old fashioned writing is coming back in style.

 

However, due to the fact that very few people stay in their birthplace and many move multiple times, it is small and portable objects which are favored.

 

Foldable sturdy office or drafting tables are easier to manage than a traditional desk. They can be used for multiple activities like sewing, quilting or painting, scrapbooking, needlework and other supply rich crafts, which components can fit in light and easy to transport plastic boxes that can be re-used and re-purposed indefinitely.

 

Beautiful and sturdy pieces of furniture have their place, but who can afford to invest in an expensive and heavy piece, only to find it broken upon opening a moving truck?

[Bo Bo Olson]

Insurance and a bit more for proper packing.....of course I've not moved since I was a kid and that was by car.....

Here in Germany....of course it was a long distance move of near abouts two miles. From our old home to our new one....We did use a moving company with a good local reputation, that didn't break any thing. But we don't have U-Haul over here.....could have rented a big van, but having professionals coming in and doing that was much better............and we had two very thick dance on them, oak Gelsenkirchener Barock.sideboards...a good meter deep, where half the world could be stored.....took six men to get it up to the first floor balcony and down in the old place.

Actually I was glad to have others run up and down stairs or shove stuff in our 'new' elevator, than do it my self.

It is amazing what sort of junk one can accumulate in 20 years. I thought it better for professionals to pack it, than spend weeks doing it our selfs.

 

Unfortunately any double pult desk I can find, are all 80cm...not the minimum 90 needed for a monitor screen.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson