Gorgeous antique French Napoleon III era kiln-fired enamel inkwell with attached 7" wide tray & pen or quill holders, ornate "jeweled" look with exquisite detail and marvelous visual & decorative appeal! From enamelists working in the decorative arts community surrounding that of the old Sevres porcelain works or perhaps similar workshops of Bresse (Bressan). The processes are very much the same, really, and a dual-industry emerged in this distinct decorative style by the 1800s. They are NOT Manufactory du Sevres items, but from the village artisans, much as the enamels of Limoges emerge in the same village as later decorative porcelain work. The process is very similar, working with muddy porcelain 'slip' and then kiln-firing so that the finished decorative surface emerges upon melting. A very arduous and difficult process here, the emulsions are painted on copper plaques or panels, in this case the concave dish and inkwell body & lid, each would have gone through numerous kiln-firings to achieve the finished product. Jeweled raised dots of thick enamel add a jewel-like feature. The main purveyor of these in 19th century was TAHAN, a luxury good purveyor and cabinetry shop, and quite regularly I find some boxes or caskets with an engraved lock plate noting TAHAN links. A lovely and unique inkwell here, perfect as a desk top decorative piece to accentuate a similarly enameled jewelry casket or writer's set (of which we have a few fabulous pieces available so be sure to browse some while you're with us). Thanks!
Very good condition, age and materials considered. Just found this one in France, beautiful! Possibly a missing raised enamel 'dot' or 'jewel' or two and it is missing the inner glass ink pot that would have sit right inside the inkwell body. See pictures for all measurements.
