#204-CIVIL WAR SALE: RARE & UNUSUAL BRASS DESK PIECE WITH GLASS INK WELL INSIDE

This is a very unusual Civil War era desk ink well. The top is hinged to flip up to access the ink in a glass beneath the lid.

I have also found ink wells/bottles very interesting for multiple reasons. Finding a glass item that survived the war and ended up "found" by someone a decade or so later always seems very unlikely to me; yet I have seen and acquired and sold several.

This is not one that would be sold by a sutler or carried around by an enlisted man. It could, however, be part of an officer's traveling desk ensemble. Many officers carried a portable desk that included a flat writing surface, paper, stamps, pens, ink and an ink blotter. They wouldn't have a screw top bottle of ink (remember this was the 1860s) or be likely to purchase a shear top glass ink bottle from the regimental sutler (unless they need additional ink while in the field).

Depending on the officer and his circumstances of of a location far from the front lines or in the midst of battle lines, inhospitable weather, frequent time without encountering the enemy or perhaps ...or perhaps having the luxury of having an indoor facility (perhaps a private residence commandeered or a small cabin that was built when the regiment was in winter quarters), few situations provided for anything resembling luxury even under the best of circumstances. Size and weight often were the deciding factor regarding what was taken along with other essentials. Officers wrote letters, passes, reports and had numerous printed documents to fill in. The many documents in this sale were indeed written or filled-in when an officer was in one of these decent or terrible situations.

And officers' chosen group of office supplies varied dramatically. Many were indeed minimalists, especially if they did not have access to storage space on a wagon filled with supplies. Weapons, ammunition and food were the highest priority.

This war-era brass piece more than likely came from a civilian and was used at home, in one's store or office or many other locations. From the foot soldiers to the generals, most everyone wrote during the war and the only way to accomplish it was with pen and ink in one of several different types of bottles and wells.