Inkwell - Marble

An elegant and monumental double desk inkstand on a rectangular base, executed in black Portoro marble. This marble type was particularly popular in the 19th century in Western Europe for high-quality interior objects. This marble has a deep black, dense base that is strongly punctuated by flowing veins in shades of gold, bronze, and pale yellow. The marble slab rests on a finely chiseled mount of patinated bronze, decorated with a classical leaf border and placed on four stylized legs. The top features two identical heavy ink pots of thick clear glass. The pots are encased in bronze frames and are closed by hinged, dome-shaped lids of patinated bronze. Behind the ink pots there is a subtly integrated bronze pen holder.

This type of inkstand, often referred to as an écriture, was around the turn of the century the ultimate status symbol on the writing desk of the European elite. The design heavily leans on neoclassical formal language, which at that time was undergoing a revival. The symmetrical arrangement with two ink pots was functionally strictly separated: one pot for black or blue ink and the second for red ink or writing fluid.