Sarcophagus-shaped inkstand

about 1810

Medium/TechniqueRootwood and ebony, inlaid with brass, gilt-bronze mounts

DimensionsHeight (in open position) x width: 14 1/2 x 17 in. (36.8 x 43.2 cm)
Diameter: 203.2 mm (8 in.)

Credit LineGift of Horace Wood Brock

Accession number2007.1002.1-3

On View

On view

ClassificationsFurniture

Collections

Europe

Inscriptions"Honi soit qui mal y pense" (shamed be he who thinks evil of it —motto of the Order of the Garter)ProvenanceRandolph (dealer), Suffolk; sold by Randolph to H. Blairman and Sons, London [see note 1]. Acquired on the London art market by Horace Wood Brock, New York; 2007, gift of Horace Wood Brock to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 23, 2008)

NOTES:
[1] This may be the inkstand illustrated by Martin Levy, "Taking up the Pen," Country Life 186, no. 17 (April 23, 1992): p. 62, fig. 6. Mr. Levy has confirmed that Blairman had acquired two similar inkstands a few years apart.