Topic: Thomas Lane & Son inkstand combination, RD 289894 of 13 March 1875.

[Paul S.]

glad you find them interesting m.           -     I think history is so fascinating, almost addictive  - especially items that constitute our social history  -  pieces that ordinary folk used in their day-to-day lives.
With my interest in writing apparatus and pens etc., I've been trawling my Nat. Archives pix this evening, and although he doesn't know it yet, in the coming days Fred will be working overtime with the ink well/ink stand/ink bottle Registrations that I'll post as and when I can get around to watermarking and resizing them.
I know they aren't exciting or colourful, but in theory they're common place pieces that were made in profusion and should still be around and not too difficult to find, especially for those folk here who visit the fairs etc.
I should have something like a couple of dozen, but they won't all hit the screen at the same time, and will spread them over a week or so.....they start around c. 1850.

[flying free]

I'm looking forward to seeing them
and Anne, thank you also for explaining what a wafer is.  Needs to be on a QI 'W' week 
m

[agincourt17]

I look forward to seeing your 'inky' glass registration design pics, Paul.

Thank you, Anne, for the 'wafer' revelations.

I  have never been a philatelist. but I must say I imagined that postal envelopes with adhesive seals to their flap became commonplace as items of postal stationery with the introduction of the first adhesive postage stamps in the 1840s, so to find that new designs for glass writing accessories were still accommodating storage for sealing wafers 25 years later came as a surprise.

It is fascinating how research into Victorian glass designs can often  throw a light on so many other aspects of social and cultural history that have been all but forgotten or changed almost out of recognition nowadays.

Fred.