Featured Can anybody help with this inkwell?

Hi Wayne,
No need for sarcastic comments. This is a nice friendly place. Kiko looked at the feet and it does resemble plastic. Please remember that. people here do not collect any fees. We give our opinions freely and do not sarcastically answer your questions. If you want to insult people I suggest you find a different avenue to go down.
greg

 

I was getting a crick in my neck.

The term that came into my mind for the style was 'empire'. Don't know if this seller was accurate, but used empire to describe this:



Edit: N.b., in the style of does not always mean from the time of. In my uninformed opinion, it looks genuinely antique.

 

Sorry Greg. I know I'm no antiques expert but I would never have posted pictures of an object that appears to be 19th century if it had plastic feet. From my end it appears the sarcasm was directed at me when I was asking for genuine help identifying an object

Wayne

 

Thank you Bronwen I did see that similar inkwell, and another one that was described as Napoleon III. The picture you've posted has beautiful gilt work do you think my piece is worth the restoration?

 

I'm sorry I offended you in any way. My question was not intended to be an insult to your piece. The feet did not look solid as you can see the metal of the frame through them.

 

Nope. Look again. Kiko quoted Marie. You had no way to know they are both regulars & we can get to teasing each other sometimes. I too can see how Kiko could have thought there were plastic pads on the feet. We just needed your correction that they are all metal, no plastic. Remark was not meant to be mean & not directed at you.

I'd rather we settle down to figuring out what we can about this pretty inkwell.

 

Thanks for the support, Greg.

 

Hi Wayne,
I glad you see it now. We have had too many nasty and sarcastic people that show up here, cause upsets and then leave by them selves or get tossed by our wonderful guards. It is almost impossible to describe emotions by reading posts. If anyone gets the feeling that they are being insulted please just ask do not go out in a huff. Welcome to the BEST board anywhere!!!!
greg

 

Wayne. I wish you success in tracking down the age and origin of your piece and hope all your questions will be answered in their entirety.
Kiko

 

I do apologise as I said I'm new to the site I didn't realise Kiko was replying to someone one but to my supposition that it wasn't Art Nouveau. From there you can see the confusion. Believe it or not I do have a sense of humour as well as a total inability to use a camera

 

Thank you Kiko and I apologise again

 

Not a lot of help here but do think this genuinely old. At least late 19th century but could be even older. I wonder if this wasn't originally silver plated? There are various black places and inside the lid is black. Looks like it could be tarnished silver to me.

 

Hi Brad and thank you. It was posted on Ebay as a "buy it now" and I thought I'd take the chance. I wasn't sure if the black isn't old ink as the original liner is encrusted with it, and one very small gold flake fell out of the lid when I opened it. Makes you wonder what letters were written with it

 

The quality of the casting is very good with the small ornaments holding some fine detail. A repro piece would no doubt have artifacts in the casting and look less crisp, overall. So, I would agree this is an old (and genuine) piece.

It may help if you'd include: "garland and bows" in your search criteria.

 

Thank you Sabre yes the detail is very crisp under the dirt and age, it turned up in the post a couple of days ago so I think I need to do some research about cleaning it properly before I go any further. So it was a good buy for £35 then? Thank you for the garland and bows advice I think the piece merits as much investigation as I can

 

You wanted to know if it was worth regilding. Are you planning to keep or to sell? Have you looked into what it would cost? Glad you see the next step as cleaning it so the corrosion will stop. If you bought it for yourself, only you will know, after you've shined it up, whether you're happy with it as is or really want to go all out to restore it. I know I would just clean it up. If selling you probably should leave it alone altogether. The or molu process is toxic & not done anymore.

 

Hi Bronwen I think I'll probably keep it I can imagine it will look stunning under the right light. I know the old Ormolu process used mercury and the life span of workers was about 40 years so I wont be doing that any time soon! I was thinking about using a sizer and 22 carat gold leaf. Apologies again to Kiko. Good job I didn't tell him about the Marks and Spencer label I found in the lid

 

Yes. I think it's a beautiful piece.

 

I also think it is beautiful.
Although much of the decoration is Regency/Empire, other elements are too 'fussy' for Regency. I think it is mid to late 19th century and would call the style Historic Revival, which incorporates different historic styles.

Kiko is a she, btw. And a very nice person.

 

Do I understand that you would do the gilding yourself? If the materials are affordable, I can see finding great satisfaction in restoring it to its old glory.We enjoy seeing the results as the stages progress when someone repairs/restores anything, so hope you'll show outcomes of work you do on it.