Porcelain Ink Bottle Limoges Box

Before ballpoints, every desk had a bottle of ink within reach, and this porcelain box recreates that familiar shape. Its color was applied by hand in Limoges, France, where the porcelain itself was fired.

Dip, Blot and Write

The ink bottle belongs to the age of dip pens, letter writing and careful penmanship. As a porcelain piece it keeps the outline of the original while trading glass for painted color, so it reads as a writer's ornament rather than a working inkwell.

Desk Drawer Classics

• Hand-painted porcelain from Limoges, France
• Joins fountain pen, quill and book pieces in a writing themed grouping
• Suits a calligraphy, journalism or office collection

For Writers and Professionals

Consider it for an author finishing a manuscript, a calligrapher, a journalist leaving the newsroom, or a lawyer opening a first practice. It also works well for a graduate taking a first office job. People who still write letters by hand or keep a daily journal tend to appreciate the subject immediately.

Small Boxes, Long History

Little porcelain boxes became fashionable in 18th-century France, when fashionable people carried them for snuff, pills and beauty patches. Today the tradition lives on as a collecting hobby, and writing tools are one of its quieter, more personal themes. Set this one next to a blotter or a jar of pens.