Ornately patterned circular ink well, shaped like a plate with two smaller circles and rectangle between them.　
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The ornate pattern features brass vine with grape-like leaves and tendrils running along the wide outer edge. White mother-of-pearl flowers bloom between leaves with full open 7-petaled flower with brass yellow center all around the edge, intermittent with side view cupped petals, all against a red and black tortoise shell background. In the center of the plate is space for inkwells and pens, detailed in similar exquisite floral and vine pattern.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2018.298
People
Attributed to George Bullock, British (1777 or 1782/3 - 1818)
Title
Buhl Inkstand
Classification
Tools and Equipment
Work Type
inkstand
Date
c. 1815
Period
George IV (1820-1830)
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/362148

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2340, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, The Silver Cabinet: Art and Ritual, 1600–1850
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Brass, mother-of-pearl, tortoise shell, and lacquered wood
Dimensions
7.5 × 40 cm (2 15/16 × 15 3/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • label: bottom, round: [handwritten, blue ballpoint ink:] 10 / [printed, black:] CHRISTIE'S

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
[Christie's, London, June 7, 2007, lot 3]. [H. Blairman & Sons, Ltd., London, by 2009], sold; to Horace W. Brock, Gloucester

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Horace W. Brock
Accession Year
2018
Object Number
2018.298
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Important English Furniture, auct. cat., Christie's, London (London, June 7, 2007), lot 3, repr.
  • Furniture and Works of Art, auct. cat., H. Blairman & Sons Ltd (London, 2009), no. 4, repr.

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2340 Cabinet Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/25/2019 - 06/02/2025

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu