A new....dip pen ink well and a report of a live auction.

[Z man]

13 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

Wheee.........surprised the hell out of me.

.......got to put that book on my Christmas list.

There's another example of the stag head version in Veldon Badders' Collector's Guide to Inkwells, Identification and Values. It's Plate 363. Badders describes it as Vienna bronze with ceramic insert and polychrome enamel, circa 1870. 

 

Wish I had as much luck researching my own. ;0)

 

Z

[Bo Bo Olson]

Auction house bill  stated Wien/Vienna, Franz Bergmann @ 1900. I can not find any markings., Name, initials or Wien.

 

There are bronzes from Bergmann, like a dog, wild pig and owl that appear 'similar' if one wants.

Wien/Vienna was a major bronze center for a long time before and after 1900.

 

Goldschider Wien is still a big name for even tiny bronzes...but like much to most, the prices were two to three times higher 15-25 years before.

1 1/2"- 2" bronze figurines are still expensive.

The Goldscheider Ceramics factory from Vienna produced over 10.000 art nouveau and art deco models made out of ceramics, terracotta, & bronzes. (I really like the dancing ceramic ladies. Just can't afford them with out getting out of pens, or swords.)

 

There is a TV  auction show that has been running every week day for some 10 or so years, and a while back I remember my shock at the prices of those small Goldschider bronzes then. My wife knew about them, not me.

 

If it was marked, Bergmann in any way or form, I'd not been able to afford him.

 

I'd just looked and wanted, and the name meant nothing to me, until I just this minute looked for him.

[Z man]

3 hours ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

Auction house bill  stated Wien/Vienna, Franz Bergmann @ 1900. I can not find any markings., Name, initials or Wien.

 

There are bronzes from Bergmann, like a dog, wild pig and owl that appear 'similar' if one wants.

Wien/Vienna was a major bronze center for a long time before and after 1900.

 

Goldschider Wien is still a big name for even tiny bronzes...but like much to most, the prices were two to three times higher 15-25 years before.

1 1/2"- 2" bronze figurines are still expensive.

The Goldscheider Ceramics factory from Vienna produced over 10.000 art nouveau and art deco models made out of ceramics, terracotta, & bronzes. (I really like the dancing ceramic ladies. Just can't afford them with out getting out of pens, or swords.)

 

There is a TV  auction show that has been running every week day for some 10 or so years, and a while back I remember my shock at the prices of those small Goldschider bronzes then. My wife knew about them, not me.

 

If it was marked, Bergmann in any way or form, I'd not been able to afford him.

 

I'd just looked and wanted, and the name meant nothing to me, until I just this minute looked for him.

Very, very neat with a connection to either Wein or Bergmann. Still a very cool inkwell, you lucky dog. Or should I say fox?  ;0)

 

Z

[Bo Bo Olson]

Thank you, it is my most striking.

 

[Anne-Sophie]

On 7/6/2022 at 7:41 PM, Z man said:

It's probably not custom made. The Collector's World of Inkwells, by Jean and Franklin Hunting, have a nearly identical example on page 55.

The only difference is the colors of the fox head. Next to it is an example with an identical base and a stag head for the lid. The Huntings describe both as having an iron base with painted white metal lids from Austria circa 1880.

 

HTH,

Z

 

Wow! Thank you for sharing that great reference.

 

Austrian? That explains how it got to Bo Bo. 

 

I suppose, hunting being a pastime of the aristocracy and Austria was an Empire during the 1880 that explains the fabrication of such inkwells.

 

Does the book gives any hint about the makers' names or city of origin?

Right after I posted that Bo Bo shared the auction reference.

 

[Anne-Sophie]

 

In case someone, in the Americas, wants to start a mini inkwell collection. Or just look at their pretty pictures.

 

 

I am reposting about the small inkwell available at Pendemonium, a small vintage pens and pen related items, store in AZ, with an online presence.

 

 

 

 2x2 inches black funnel glass inkwell that Pendemonium think is French

 

https://www.pendemonium.com/product/funnel-style-inkwell-probably-french-black-glazed-ceramic

 

 

A signature/thank you note mini inkwell as part of a 1940 's desk set with a matching dip pen and dip pen holder

 

https://www.pendemonium.com/product/inkwell-–-desk-set-ca-1940s

[Bo Bo Olson]

That second one is very, very nice.

 

I don't know but I have an impression there is something missing from the first one, like a lid.

[Anne-Sophie]

Bo Bo, the funnel is kind of the lid, I think it might have been part of a writing set or a desk, especially one for a child.

 

There are 2 recessed area for a dip pen, it could have been placed in an holder that was triangular, most probably made of the matching dark glass, but it might have been broken, the opening would have faced up, cradled in its holder. It also could have been part of an Art Deco desk set.

 

When I was little, I used to have such a desk, with an inkwell recess but the inkwell , itself, was missing.

 

I think I asked numerous time for the inkwell to be replaced, bute even a docile 4-7 year old, like myself, could make a huge mess.

 

When I was 10, I bought my first metal and second fountain pen, my school still had the desk with grooves for pencils and dip pens as well as the round space for an inkwell.

 

Of course, I asked the teacher if the school still had the inkwells, funnels, bottles, etc... I don't remember getting an answer.

 

 

  As you can see, my passion for inkwells is not new, I also developed a fondness for desk sets, over the years I have been on FPN, so I really love to see your pictures.

 

 

 

I have the same model Swivodex inkwell but with black glass, milkgalss ones are more rare.

 https://www.pendemonium.com/product/swiv-o-dex-inkwell-ca-1940s

 

I also have a simple one like that.

https://www.pendemonium.com/product/sengbusch-inkstand-milwaukee-usa

 

I bought both from the sellers in the link,  if people in the Americas want to start an inkwell collection, this is the place to start.

 

Sam and Frank from Pendemonium are very knowledgeable, do the  travelling, items hunting, bidding, cleaning and are upfront about the condition.  

 

In other words, they take the stress out of collecting.

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

Thank you, Anne-Sophie, you appear to be right with the missing funnel.

I didn't get into the dip fountain pen inkwells like you showed. There were a couple Esterbrook ones that I'd wished for.

But, having to pay the same price as the object to mail it from the states to Germany removed the urge.

[Anne-Sophie]

On 7/18/2022 at 1:41 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

Thank you, Anne-Sophie, you appear to be right with the missing funnel.

I didn't get into the dip fountain pen inkwells like you showed. There were a couple Esterbrook ones that I'd wished for.

But, having to pay the same price as the object to mail it from the states to Germany removed the urge.

 

This is why I said collectors in the Americas, because I recognize the price of shipping which needs to be by boat or plane to get to Europe, and now, with worldwide inflation, shipping costs are prohibitive.

 

Because there were, are U.S bases in Germany, you might be able to find Esterbrooks, Swivodex and other American dip pen holders.

 

They might have been snatched by Ebay Germany / Europe sellers. But if there is an estate sale from an American who moved to your area of Germany, in the late 40's or the 50's, you might be in luck.

 

Same if the person moved to Benelux, Austria, even France and you can find them at auction which have an online/auction house bidding, even, just an online presence, since Covid. 

 

 

I was only aware of Sheaffer and Parker when they were made in the U.S, especially the later, because they had a French subsidiary, which made the famous Parker 75.

 

There was a time, I almost started collecting all the silver color, French Parker 75, but, they were very expensive, especially because I only wanted medium or bold nibs, vey rare, I think even custom.

 

Luckily, I found the metal Lamy Studio which has the same feeling as the 75 body and the Safari which mimics the grip of the 75. 

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

16 minutes ago, Anne-Sophie said:

French Parker 75,

I almost bought one, in they do not have the triangle grip.

 

How ever in the US model they were a semi-nail and I wasn't going to risk that much money to find out if it was  a nail or semi-nail.

 

Of course my '71/72 P-75 is medium, when I bought it I had no burning need for a F......M was what many of my old cheap fountain pens had been.

I'll have to keep an eye out for the dying folk on Ebay, and English Ebay is easier fro me to use than French, which the last time I looked....ages ago was divided up into Departments.

[Anne-Sophie]

8 minutes ago, Bo Bo Olson said:

I almost bought one, in they do not have the triangle grip.

 

How ever in the US model they were a semi-nail and I wasn't going to risk that much money to find out if it was  a nail or semi-nail.

 

Of course my '71/72 P-75 is medium, when I bought it I had no burning need for a F......M was what many of my old cheap fountain pens had been.

I'll have to keep an eye out for the dying folk on Ebay, and English Ebay is easier fro me to use than French, which the last time I looked....ages ago was divided up into Departments.

 

You are right about the grip, it was not triangular but was not round either it had a little grippy area on the side of the grip which was a little valley.

 

Hard to explain.

 

 

[Anne-Sophie]

Below is a link from l'Ecritoire shop, in Paris. 

https://www.lecritoireparis.com/fr/encriers-supports/414-45114-marguerite-ensemble-de-bureau-en-chene-et-en-etain.html#/179-etain_ou_bronze-etain_naturel

 

They sell contemporary versions, in the style of your vintage inkwells and desk sets, which are called ensemble de bureau.

 

I was mistaken thinking that the small ones were for children.

 

This is the Limoges replica of the inkwells used in school desks, the ancestor of the owners was the person who was contracted to fabricate the ones that were used in pupils desks until the 40's. 

 https://www.lecritoireparis.com/fr/boutique-en-ligne/234-encrier-godet-scolaire-en-porcelaine-de-limoges.html

 

By the 50's, most people in France used Parker Jotters, my grand-father had a Parker 51. 

 

The old desks were still used in some schools but without the inkwell insert, as I stated before.

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I never sat at a desk with an inkwell hole.........could be I saw one in  @ '58 where some student was sitting at temporary because the janitor had dragged an old desk down from the attic, to replace a broken newer model....or one kid more had been added to the class.  But that old desk was exiled back to the attic very soon there after.

 

I do suggest one put a limit of say 5 on inkwells and inkwell sets. It's all to easy to say....'Oh, that's nice. I don't have that.'

 

Enough for an accent, not an avalanche.

[Anne-Sophie]

On 7/21/2022 at 6:35 AM, Bo Bo Olson said:

I never sat at a desk with an inkwell hole.........could be I saw one in  @ '58 where some student was sitting at temporary because the janitor had dragged an old desk down from the attic, to replace a broken newer model....or one kid more had been added to the class.  But that old desk was exiled back to the attic very soon there after.

 

I do suggest one put a limit of say 5 on inkwells and inkwell sets. It's all to easy to say....'Oh, that's nice. I don't have that.'

 

Enough for an accent, not an avalanche.

 

Drat! I am almost at my limit with 3, which I wanted to display my beautiful dip pens, but... I live in tornado & now, earthquake country and my desk has been used for clean, as in free of covid/monkey pox interference, while my other table was the dirty, as in stuff that came from the outside and could be infected with the covid, then was for collage then has become the from the outside stuff table, again.

 

So annoyed. 

[Anne-Sophie]

 

Below is a link to a documentary, in French, about Georges Bizet, at the 5:58 minute there is a picture of a triangular inkwell which holds a plume, and probably belonged to Bizet.

 

Those tiny triangular inkwells with a wide mouth, might have been used for plume resting.

 

This same serie, concerned with the preferred dwelling of famous people, many time, gives close ups of desks, which I of course find delightful.

 

Chateaubriand has an inwekk which is square, with a center wider opening and four slender openings in each corners, where various plumes are placed.

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/tcRLY33Jlfw

[Bo Bo Olson]

As a working well, that one refilled from a bottle, it would do just fine. No schnick snack to one's most basic tools. Nothing that would distract the mind, away from what is being hummed on paper.

[Anne-Sophie]

On 8/14/2022 at 8:22 AM, Bo Bo Olson said:

As a working well, that one refilled from a bottle, it would do just fine. No schnick snack to one's most basic tools. Nothing that would distract the mind, away from what is being hummed on paper.

 

It is amazing how much they were able to write with plumes.

 

I have yet to see a French writer using a steel pen (dip pen), yet Lincoln used one, the ones in the series are contemporary or slightly younger.

 

 

[Bo Bo Olson]

They cut most of the plume away but the tip, to brush off the ground up cuttle fish.....that absorbed the ink................sand was only used to make sure the paper laid on top of a sheet of paper didn't get inked from the bottom sheet. In sand don't absorb ink.

 

One has to think the rooms were windy back then and the full feather area would get caught in the wind and ruin a letter by making a blot.

One had the wing-back chairs with the back away from the chimney to protect you from the draft of cold air rushing up a chimney.

Lord Rutherford, the famous American inventor and Loyalist, invented a better chimney, first kitchen stove and a better Franklin stove....along with many other things.

[txomsy]

This is a picture of an inkwell that belonged to one of the most remarkable women ever (if not the most remarkable one by large), Marie Curie. Two times Nobel Prize, she surmounted and broke the hugest barriers a woman could ever have imagined and did so in so much excellence, and with such humanity, that one can hardly praise her enough.

 

This awful picture was taken at the Marie Curie museum in Warsaw.