Coventry Glassworks – Blown Glass Inkwell – Amber

This is an early American center hole inkwell; the style is referred to as a “Pitkin” style inkwell. The pattern code (according to “McKearin”) is likely a GII-2. The following description for an identical one in green, found online – “BLOWN-MOLDED GII-2 INKWELL, deep olive green, applied mouth, plain base with rough pontil mark. Coventry Glass Works. The McKearins – American Glass, p. 250, pl. 87.”
These pattern molded inkwells are attributed to Connecticut glassworks and date from approx. 1780-1830. Pattern molding was a process of forming a basic design pattern (typically ribs) on an expanding gob of glass via a dip mold with an engraved design. “Pitkin” style inkwells were made by a number of regional glasshouses like Pitkin Glassworks, Coventry Glassworks, Keene.
This pattern is believed to be from Conventry Glassworks. This ink was blown in a three-piece leaf mold, has a blow-pipe pontil scar on the base, is 1.4″ tall and 2.25″cm in diameter, and has a flattened “disk” type finish (like the Pitkin inkwell above) surrounding the central bore that was formed with simple glassmaker tools. The body design is referred to as a “geometric” pattern which was a molded take-off or loose imitation of English or Irish cut glassware of the period.
It is in excllent condition with no chips or cracks. The colour is the more common amber (rarer ones are green hues).