Inkstand

DateMid 1800s

Terms

Inkstands
Iron
United States

Dimensions20.31 cm (8 in.)

Credit LineGift of George Parsons Lathrop

Object numberH909

DescriptionInk stand, cast iron. Typical Victorian design. Lid has a conventional border in low relief about a rosette and roses cast in high relief on a corrugated ground. Pen tray is corrugated and has a conventional border. Whole has been painted green with a gilt lining for the lid. There are places for two ink-wells, probably for red and black ink. One is missing. Between them is a shallow wafer holder, gilded like the underside of the lid. Although envelopes with gummed flaps were in use in Hawthorne's time, the wafer was still used to seal letters of importance. Filled with round pellets.