Inkwell (Inkstand)

Description

This small pewter inkwell or inkstand was made by Philadelphia pewterer William Will, a member of a German-American family of artisans. The circular form has three holes in the upper surface intended to hold feather/quill pens and the center has a fitted blown glass insert meant to hold ink that may have also had a cork stopper or lid. The interior of the container has William Will's stamped mark and the underside is inscribed with "A E" likely to personalize it by an owner. This is very early for an American pewter inkwell, and the graceful economy of its design epitomizes the way pewter was a ubiquitous metal used to make ordinary things. Such objects from the eighteenth century have not survived in large numbers because they could easily be melted and remade into new items. Henry Francis du Pont likely collected this stand under advisement from Winterthur's first curator Charles Montgomery, who was also a pewter dealer. Montgomery included this inkwell in his book A History of American Pewter.