[Ink stand containing a glass ink bottle and a pounce box, each having a silver top with a portrait of Shakespeare] [realia].

[Ink stand containing a glass ink bottle and a pounce box, each having a silver top with a portrait of Shakespeare] [realia].

[England] : [s.n.], [1769]

1 inkstand : mulberry tree wood ; 13 in. high x 8 1/8 in. wide x 4 7/8 in. deep.

wood

Footed ink stand carved with a projecting rim at the base 1/8" wide and 1/4 high, to which the feet have been attached. They are flush joined at the corners and arched into the rim in profile. The stepped lid has a lower interlacement band and above, an egg and dart pattern. A groove has been carved on the box under the lid, and each of the 4 corners has been beveled and decorated with a single vertical band of molding. The front has a silver button which operates a catch and is backed by a silver escutcheon fastened with 3 silver round-head screws. The lid has a loop handle in silver. The interior is lined with red velvet which has been decorated with silver braid and fitted with partitions which hold a pounce box and an ink bottle. Each has a chased silver lid with a profile portrait of Shakespeare encircled by a wreath.

Certification: from documents purchased with the ink stand, now cataloged as Y.c.1465 (1-3). There are 2 letters. The first concerns the presentation of the ink stand to George Keate by the Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon, signed by William Hunt, Town Clerk, May 3, 1769, which reads in part, "Sir. Mr. Wheler [Robert Bell Wheler] has intimated to us, that you have several times taken the trouble of attending your friend Mr. Garrick in our favour; and that you have shown much attention and regard to the place which has the honour of giving birth to the admired Shakespear [sic]. As you so much revere his memory, we beg your acceptance of a writing stand from a mulberry tree planted by Shakespeare's own hand..." The second letter is George Keate's reply acknowledging receipt of the ink stand from Mr. Wheler with the accompanying letter. The third item is a note on the back of a calling card for Sir Charles Marshall (name crossed out with a pen) which is inscribed, "This inkstand was given to Mr. White by Mrs. Keate (by will) the widow of the gentleman to whom it was presented in May 1769 by the Corporation of Stratford-on-Avon---Acton Hill, 1836. Entry in the Dictionary of National Biography under George Keate mentions the ink stand in connection with a specific work by Keate which reads: "Ferney; an epistle to Voltaire, 1768. In praise of Voltaire and his works, but with compliments to Shakespeare, for which the author was rewarded, in the jubilee 1769, by the mayor and corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon, with an inkstand made out of a mulberry-tree planted by Shakespeare, and with the freedom on the town."

Provenance: Card in Mrs. Folger's card file under Mulberry reads: Bought of Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, Dec. 6- 1905. Former owner not known. Catalog, Film Acc. 484 (234), is annotated with the buyer's name, Pearson and the hammer price L115/-/-, for the ink stand and manuscripts. HCF bought of J. Pearson & co., Dec. 12 1905 for L115/-/-. The ink stand was recorded 2 years earlier in another sale by Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, Dec. 6, 1903, lot no. 6. In the Sotheby catalog, Film Acc. 484 (228), the buyer is listed as Aston and the hammer price as L120/-/-. Former owner not known.

Wood no. 18

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