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Rectangular inkstand with three lidded ink bottles
Made by: George Bullock (English, 1777/78–1818)
English (London)
about 1810–15
Medium/Technique
Veneered with ebony and brass, glass bottles
Dimensions
Length x width: 34.3 x 22.2 cm (13 1/2 x 8 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Horace Wood Brock
Accession Number2010.1038.1-4
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsDecorative arts
This rectangular tray-shaped inkstand was designed by George Bullock, a Liverpool sculptor and cabinetmaker who settled in London in 1812. The brass border surrounding the central well is inlaid with ebony in a style of marquetry that was perfected in France by Andre-Charles Boulle at the end of the seventeenth century and revived in England in the early nineteenth. At least four designs for the “buhl” marquetry on rectangular inkstands are preserved among a collection of tracings of "designs of the late Mr. George Bullock 1820," which is now at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Bullock produced variants of this inkstand, some with carrying handles at either end, while others are made with different border designs in rosewood, tortoishell,mother-of-pearl, and ivory.
DescriptionConstructed in ebony, with brass inlays, of rectangular form with sloping sides and rounded ends. The rectangular central well has three divisions with detachable covers to hold glass bottles for ink and blotting sand.
ProvenanceAbout 1810/1815, probably made for Matthew Robinson Boulton (b. about 1772 - d. 1842), Tew Park, England; until 1987, by descent within the family, to Major Eustace Robb, Tew Park; May 27-29, Tew Park sale, Christie's, London, lot 13. About 1987/1988, National Museums and Galleries on Merseyside (Walker Art Gallery), Liverpool. By 1988, H. Blairman and Sons, London. About 2002, acquired on the London art market by Horace Wood Brock, New York; 2010, year-end gift of Horace Wood Brock to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 26, 2011)