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This inkstand comprises an anvil containing an inkwell on two plateaux, the lower plateau incorporating pen rests on all four sides. Length 6½"/16.5cm x width 3½"/8.7cm x height 3¾"/9.3cm, weight 1lb 7¼oz/664g (all measured, not derived or calculated, so no brackets). Pressed originally from clear, uncoloured glass, it is now a faint amethyst colour, probably due to the action of sunlight. An early pressing with tight clean joints between the five outer sections of the mould. The mould components are:
Top, including the inkwell and edge chamferRight side and right front of the anvil, and part of the top of the upper plateauLeft side and left front of the anvil, and part of the top of the upper plateauBack of the anvil, and part of the top of the upper plateauSides of the upper plateau with top and sides of the lower plateauRingPlungerThe anvil is modelled upon a typical English blacksmith's single-horn general purpose anvil, unlike English farrier's and Continental anvils which generally have a horn at both ends, one round and one square in cross section. The step on a real anvil has been moved in from the end and converted to a curved pen rest. The rim of the inkwell could have taken either a loose lid or a hinged lid, cemented on with plaster of paris, but there is no trace of any cement on this example.
We now come to the design itself. As you will see from the photographs, the void under the inkstand has been cleverly designed to give the illusion of the anvil having spreading legs and feet, just like a real anvil, even down to the front legs under the horn being slightly thicker than the back legs to reflect the need for strength at this action end of the anvil. This illusion works well viewed from the sides or the ends, and up to about 25°–30° from those positions. In between, viewed from the corners, this illusion disappears. You will also have noticed from my photograph of the base that the plunger is close ribbed around the inside of the lower plateau, and under the ends of the upper plateau. So, as parts of the outside of the inkstand are plain, what you see is a mixture of upper and lower surfaces. So, a very sophisticated design which works well, and for which I can't think of any parallels.
I thought that was all until I happened to put the inkstand down on my oak dining table, which has a very obvious and strong grain. It was interesting to see that the grain was relatively undistorted through the sides of the upper plateau and between the "legs" of the anvil, further emphasising the illusion described above, and achieved by ensuring that the inside and outside surfaces curved at almost exactly the same rate, so the glass here became almost invisible. Fabulous. What a stunning piece of design.
Then I happened to be looking at a reference book while sitting at the table, and moved the inkstand a little closer to me. I then noticed something else. So I cleared this end of the table, and set it up like a writing desk, with the inkstand in line with my right arm, about 12" (30cm) from the edge of the table, lined up with the edge of the table. As it was dark, I positioned a table lamp a little further away. And it leapt out at me. "What?" I hear you ask. Well, as you will see from the photographs, the upper surface of the upper plateau is plain, so the anvil is positioned on a plain surface. If you look at the inkstand from above, you see the ribbing of the underside of the upper plateau at each end of the anvil. However, in the exact writing desk position, you see the ribbing of the underside of the upper plateau surrounded on all three far sides by a perfectly ribbed border. On the far side and the right this is the ribbing on the inside of the lower plateau being transmitted though the glass, and on the left it is the gadrooning on the outside of the lower plateau that you see, again being transmitted through the glass. I will try to photograph this effect later on this morning, when the light improves.
The closest match to the simple gadrooned rectangular lower plateau is the Sphinx by Molineaux, Webb & Co., Rd. 26 July 1875. The plateau of John Derbyshire's Winged Sphinx has similar gadrooning, but surmounted by a band of additional ornamentation. While any English glassworks could have made it, the incredible sophistication of design, the accurate mouldmaking, and the similarity with Manchester ornamental paperweights suggest to me that the manufacturing glassworks was one of the big three in Manchester at that time, Percival Vickers, John Derbyshire, or Molineaux, Webb & Co. Alternatively the obviously fully competent appreciation of the properties of light transmitted through glass could indicate a manufacturer like Chance Bros (lighthouse lenses) or Hayward Bros (complex prismatic pavement lights), see
here.
Contributions and ideas invited and warmly welcomed.
This is quite the most interesting and fascinating item of glass I have found since the Hayward Bros pavement light shown above, and what makes it rather pleasant is that I made the most important discoveries about it on my 60th birthday. Is bus pass entitlement always so exciting?
Bernard C.
Topic: Manchester? c.1875 Anvil Inkstand (Read 4839 times)
