In the 18th century, wealthy people used inkwells and writing sets not only for their intended purpose, but also for decorating the living rooms, offices, libraries, and even boudoirs that often served for receiving guests. To fit these requirements, special “Toilette” sets were made, most often of gold, and consisted of a mirror, boxes for jewelry and lipsticks, candlesticks, bottles, bells, and inkwells. At the same time, there was a growing demand for small sets of drawers for letters that had separate compartments for quills, paper sheets, and envelopes. Also, they usually had two inkwells or a combination of an inkwell and a sander — a vessel with fine quartz powder, which was sprinkled over freshly scripted text expediting drying time of the ink. The top lid of the drawer was decorated with sets of figurines or flower finials made of gold, silver, ivory, glass, enamel, and precious stones.
Inkwells turned out to be so widely popular that throughout the 19th century they often participated in various arts and crafts exhibitions and even received awards.
In the last quarter of the 19th century, many silverware workshops and large jewelry factories were engaged in mass production of inkwells, including the firms that had the title of the Supplier of His Imperial Majesty Court, such as Sazikov, Ovchinnikov, Khlebnikov, Olovyanishnikov, and Fabergé jewelry firms. The exceptional craftsmanship of the manufacturers could transform familiar everyday objects into true works of art. Writing sets were usually made of several media: one item could contain silver, crystal, marble, onyx, and mother-of-pearl all at once. The decorating techniques involved engraving, embossing, gilding, faceting, and applying various kinds of enamel. During that period, there were numerous inkwells, made of silver or some other metals, that imitated the texture of such materials as wood, bast, and birch bark. Even stone-cutting art flourished as inkwells were cut from a single piece of some semiprecious stone.
Nowadays, inkwells and other elements of writing sets are usually found in museums or private collections.
Inkwells turned out to be so widely popular that throughout the 19th century they often participated in various arts and crafts exhibitions and even received awards.
In the last quarter of the 19th century, many silverware workshops and large jewelry factories were engaged in mass production of inkwells, including the firms that had the title of the Supplier of His Imperial Majesty Court, such as Sazikov, Ovchinnikov, Khlebnikov, Olovyanishnikov, and Fabergé jewelry firms. The exceptional craftsmanship of the manufacturers could transform familiar everyday objects into true works of art. Writing sets were usually made of several media: one item could contain silver, crystal, marble, onyx, and mother-of-pearl all at once. The decorating techniques involved engraving, embossing, gilding, faceting, and applying various kinds of enamel. During that period, there were numerous inkwells, made of silver or some other metals, that imitated the texture of such materials as wood, bast, and birch bark. Even stone-cutting art flourished as inkwells were cut from a single piece of some semiprecious stone.
Nowadays, inkwells and other elements of writing sets are usually found in museums or private collections.
