Quills-et-al

John Poole and Jane Hepple

According to Michael Finlay in his book 'The History of Western Writing Implements in the Age of the Quill Pen' these treen inkwells date back to around the start of the 19th century - around 1800. In the film Shakespeare in Love the author Will uses something like this when dipping his quill pen into an inkpot so they could be a lot earlier - or the film makers have used a lot of licence!! The treen is just something special and the design on the outside unique to this sort of wooden inkwell. They probably had glass or metal inserts. One or more of these types of treen inkwell are apparently on display or in storage at the V and A museum.

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