A pair of charming, comical Bonzo dog glass inkwells, approximately 3½ inches tall. In clear glass with painted / enamelled facial details. They have Bonzo's name in raised lettering on the back of his head between his ears, and registration number 719074 underneath the collar. They have a hinged metal band to form his collar, allowing the head to tilt back to reveal the small well for ink in his body. The collars are impressed CZECHOSLOVAKIA. The collar on one inkwell has a silvery plating, and the collar on the other inkwell is copper-coloured.
(Permission for the re-use of these images on the GMB granted by greatbarrkaz).
Bonzo was a famous ‘Sketch’ cartoon dog created by George E. Studdy. Bonzo first appeared in 1922.
According to
http://www.bonzo.me.uk/glass.html“There were many images of Bonzo reproduced in glass - scent bottles, inkwells, ashtrays, powder bowls, etc. The majority of these were made under licence in Czechoslovakia in the later 1920s & 30s, some even having registered numbers on them.” – [my emphasis].
The site also shows three versions of the Bonzo inkwell - clear, frosted and purple glass.
RD 719704 is not listed in
http://www.great-glass.co.uk/glass%20notes/regnos08.htm presumably as the registration would be for a bottle. The registration should be in March 1926.
Hence the refrain …is RD 719704 in the Blue book, please? If so, can a kind GMB member let me have the precise registration details?
I have alread posted a message at
http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,52937.msg300646.html#msg300646about a related black opaque glass perfume bottle in the shape of the cartoon cat character “Oolo” (created by George E. Studdy in January 1929 as a replacement for his famous ‘Sketch’ cartoon dog “Bonzo”). The Ooloo bottle was from RD 748794, and this number too was missing from
http://www.great-glass.co.uk/glass%20notes/regnos08.htm and neither was it in the Blue Book.
In the case of Oolloo, Paul S. came up trumps again - the registration details were absent for the common reason of having been Registered as CLASS 4, and that the registrant is the creator, George Ernest Studdy, with a London address.
I think it is pretty likely that the Bonzo inkwells will fit into a similar pattern (Class 4, with Studdy as registrant), but I have never previously seen any confirmation. I will add the Bonzo inkwell RD 719704 details to the GMB RD look-up requests, and hopefully Paul will be able to check the registration details at TNA sometime (possibly with Studdy’s design representations as a bonus).
Fred.