Inkstand

An inkstand is a stand, tray, or casket used to house writing instruments.[1][2] They were generally portable objects, intended to sit on the table or desk where the person was writing.[2] They were useful household objects when quill pens and dip pens were in everyday use. At the most basic, an inkstand had a pen, a tightly-capped inkwell, and a sand shaker for rapidly drying the ink after it was written on the page.[2]

Other items might also be included. A penwiper (a cloth for wiping blobs of ink off the end of the pen) would often be included, and from the mid-nineteenth century, an inkstand might have a box or compartment for steel nibs used in dip pens. They might have a box or drawer for sealing wax and other necessities, such as a candle and a candle holder to use while melting the wax wafers.[1][2]

Inkstands could be made of any material. In middle-class households, they might be made of tin, wood, pewter or brass.[1][2] In wealthier households, they were most often made of silver[3] or sometimes porcelain, and could be decorated with crystal, mother of pearl, gold, or even jewels.[1][2]

Inkstands with tightly closing lids, often finely made, were part and parcel of a traveling kit, until the widespread use of the fountain pen. Inkstands were going out of use before the development of ballpoint pen, which finished them as a primary source of ink.[4]

An older name for an inkstand was a standish.[5] During the 19th century, they were sometimes called pen rests.[6]

  1. ^ a b c d Campbell, Gordon, ed. (2006). "Standish". The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts. New York, N.Y: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-518948-3. OCLC 65205051.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Beal, Peter (2009). "Inkstand". A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology, 1450–2000. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957612-8. OCLC 173498627.
  3. ^ "Inkstand with Sandbox and Cover for Pen Compartment". Online Collection of the Walters Art Museum. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
  4. ^ "Inkstand | Writing, Quill & Dip Pen | Britannica". Britannica. Retrieved 2024-02-22.
  5. ^ Beal, Peter (2009). "Standish". A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology, 1450–2000. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957612-8. OCLC 173498627.
  6. ^ Beal, Peter (2009). "Pen rest". A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology, 1450–2000. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957612-8. OCLC 173498627.