Old inkwell?

halfdime · Sep 30, 2010

About 25 years ago, I found this (inkwell?) in what was left of a rotten stump of a tree. Fortunately, I've kept it safe all these years and rediscovered it while searching through my keepsakes this afternoon. It has an aqua tint, similar to old Mason jars, but no identifying marks that I can see. I'm not sure the pictures do it justice; I don't know anything about these, so I'm asking for help. How old? Is it an inkwell?

Harry Pristis · Sep 30, 2010

halfdime said:
About 25 years ago, I found this (inkwell?) in what was left of a rotten stump of a tree. Fortunately, I've kept it safe all these years and rediscovered it while searching through my keepsakes this afternoon. It has an aqua tint, similar to old Mason jars, but no identifying marks that I can see. I'm not sure the pictures do it justice; I don't know anything about these, so I'm asking for help. How old? Is it an inkwell?

Definitely an ink bottle, a "cone ink." This is one shape for bottles that had to be as tip-proof as possible -- ink, mucilage, sometimes stove or shoe-blacking. The cone shape provided a low center-of-gravity.

Age? Probably 1890s to 1910s. The olive green example in my image is embossed on the bottom, "CARTERS / 1894 / MADE IN / U.S.A."