Inkwell? Penholder? Ashtray?

[ronvae]

What is this? Is it old? Found in a Minnesota lake, it is brown-glazed ceramic, with no glazing on the bottom, and a hole in the top, big enough for me to stick my index finger in. If it was an ashtray, it'd have to be disposable, because there would be no way to get the butts out. If it was a penholder, it could only hold one. The inside portion I can see is also glazed. The area had residential & hotel garbage dumped there from the later 1800s through about the 1930s...

 

[ronvae]

Here's another view from the top:

 

[ronvae]

And the bottom...

 

[woody]

Looks like an inkwell to me!

 

[bigkitty53]

Hi Ronvae,
If it's big enough to be an ashtray I'm 99% certain it's a cuspidor-a spitoon. You were close![]

KAT

 

[medbottle]

Hi ronvae. What are the measurements on your piece? I think its an ink, not a spitoon, as there's not a secondary hole to empty it out. Turning it upside down and shaking the "stuff" out would be rather messy, not to mention disgusting. [:'(]

 

[ronvae]

This is fun--love the mystery! The measurements are:
2.5 inches tall, 3 inches across the top, 2.5 inches across the bottom, and the hole in the top is about .5 inch across. (I can fit my index finger in to the 1st knuckle, and my pinkie in to the 2nd knuckle, and I'm a smallish female). Absolutely no opening except the hole in the top. [8D]

 

[woody]

I believe it to be an inverted inkwell. I remember seeing them in Covills' ink bottle book and have seen similar ones made from glass.

 

[tazmainiendigger]

Sure looks like a nice ink to me! I have a few hundred inks, but I dont have that one[8D] I do have one however in a clear glass that is very similar, I have heard these referred to as funnel inks... here are a few shots so you can compare... Taz

 

[tazmainiendigger]

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