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Vintage Ink Bottles?


Pendarion

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Hope this is the right place to ask. I'm curious.

 

Anyone else collect or have a few, older ink bottles?

 

I have some - only a couple - and they're not madly interesting and just ones I picked up years ago in various junk shops - probably dump finds. They're from around or just after 1900 so not so 'old' really. But I'm always looking longingly on eBay at old 19thC ink bottles - especially the fancy ones like cottages and circus tent-shaped. And I love old blue glass, in particular, as well as green.

 

Is there any reason why I couldn't decant some of my ink into one? (Assuming I'd have to make a cork stopper?) And anyone else collect them?

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Although it is yeah rather unromantic -- let alone unvintage-like -- stay away from real cork and use a silicone cork instead. It's better for your ink and pen.

Life is too short to drink bad wine (Goethe)

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I don't collect ink bottles per se but I do have some old ones saved and the ones I like I will definitely reuse for new ink, having washed the bottle and cap out thoroughly, of course. In my case I only use the old bottle if I have the same ink for it today. Other than that, a few old bottles are just for artistic effect. Right now I have the equivalent new ink in old Montblanc (now with Mystery Black) and J. Herbin (with Violette Pensée) bottles. The older labels are more charming to my taste than the newer ones.

Happiness is a real Montblanc...

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I have one that is stoneware ceramic for "writing fluid," for a quart, and a strange glass one that apparently hung upside-down with a clipped rubber hose.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have a vintage Quink bottle (the label says it is "Microfilm Black") that I think I found at an antique store one day. It has its original cap, but it no longer screws tightly and so the bottle can't be used to store ink with the original cap.

 

I'm generally not a knick-knack kind of person, so I'm not planning to enlarge my collection.

Edited by ErrantSmudge
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