Artifact: Inkwell
Materials: Tin-glazed earthenware (delft)
Dimensions: OL: 4 1/2"
Date: 1767
Origin: England, Liverpool
Collection: Image Courtesy of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
License: All Rights Reserved
Ledger Entry: Ink Pot
Department: Literacy
Customer: Henry Vanmetre
Ledger Page: 258
Imported From: English or Dutch earthenware ink pots were frequently imported, though simpler stoneware ink pots may have been manufactured locally.
Product Description
Ink pots were necessary for various aspects of writing. They could be as simple as vessels for liquid ink or more complex devices that held liquid ink, writing utensils, and stored materials for making ink.
Citation: E. Jennifer Monaghan, Learning to Read and Write in Colonial America (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2007).;
Historical Price: 7.5 pence; Modern USD: $7.01
Product Variations
The databases record five purchases of ink pots, three of which were identified as brass. While the material of the other two was unidentified, they were likely ceramic. Ink pots ranged in price from two pence to twelve pence.
