Vintage Hand-Painted Wooden Double Inkwell, Floral Detailing — French Style, 1950s

Before fountain pens gave way to ballpoints, the writing desk needed a proper stand to hold its ink — usually a wooden base with one or two lidded wells, dressed up enough to sit in view rather than be tucked in a drawer. Hand-painted decoration turned what was, at its core, functional furniture for the ink bottle into something meant to be looked at while the pen was set down between letters.

This inkwell, in that tradition and dating to the 1950s, is built as a rectangular wooden base carrying two square, hinged-lid ink pots at either end. The surface is hand-painted with a delicate floral and scrollwork pattern in gold against the wood's warm reddish-brown tone.

Note how the floral vine follows the curved profile of the base's edge rather than sitting as a straight repeating border — the kind of considered layout that separates genuinely hand-painted decoration from a printed or stenciled pattern applied without regard for the object's shape.

Whoever kept ink at this desk before you kept it well. The wood and painted decoration both show minor, honest wear consistent with age, adding character rather than detracting from it. It is ready for a desk, library table, or study shelf.

It arrives professionally packed and fully insured — we handle the paperwork and worldwide shipping. Returns are accepted within 30 days.

DETAILS:
Width: 27 cm (10.6 in) · Depth: 15 cm (5.9 in) · Height: 9 cm (3.5 in)
Materials: painted wood
Condition: good vintage condition; minor wear consistent with age
Double ink pot design with hinged lids

Condition details available on request.

Electrical details available on request.

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Provenance details available on request.