A RARE VICTORIAN ELKINGTON & CO SILVER PLATED GLOBE INKWELL ...

Hammer

£100

A RARE VICTORIAN ELKINGTON & CO SILVER PLATED GLOBE INKWELL by John Leighton (1822-1912) (designer), commemorative inkwell produced for the Great Exhibition of 1851 comprised of a silver-gilt terrestrial globe with gilt interior opening to reveal a blown glass inkwell within. It is mounted in the center of a circular silver-plated repoussé base having allegorical vignettes of Raw Materials, Commerce, and Manufacturers. On the base, each category is labeled in Gothic lettering and represented by three illustrations: Raw Materials by a man at a cauldron, a farmhand picking sugar cane, and a sheepherder; Manufacturers by a weaver at a loom, an artist drawing, and a potter; and Commerce by a man with a ledger and pen beside a wrapped parcel, a person apparently laying out a bolt of cloth, and a man moving the parcel in a tropical landscape. The vignettes are separated by elaborate Gothic borders, with three caducei separating the categories. The inkstand was made by Elkington & Co. and was gilded by electric current, an innovative process at the time. There is one in the collection of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum that was donated by its designer, John Leighton. 24 cm wide.