A pleasing glass jar

We are not absolutely certain what this jar’s original use was. From its style we think it dates from the Edwardian era – roughly the first ten years of the twentieth century.

Edwardian glass and gold coloured jar

On display, it seems perfectly clear.

Labelled as a hair tidy – but is it?

This item is clearly labelled as a hair tidy. That’s a container which might find a place on a dressing table into which combed out hair could be put and stored until there was enough for some kind of hair piece..

But it could also be an inkwell, being a container with a small opening, ideal for dip-in pens.

It has been in the museum for a very long time. It would be good if we could get some accurate information about just what this lovely little jar is for.

An inkwell

Today we look at an item which will not be familiar to people much younger than 60 yet it will bring back memories for the older generation.

Inkwells date from the days of dip in pens and for many of that older generation, their first experience of using a pen was a dip in pen.

Sybil Perry, former pupil AND teacher at Market Lavington school certainly remembered them – they feature in her hand written and drawn memories. In a spoken tape Sybil made she reported that she felt very grown up when she was first allowed to use a pen like these.

A drawing by Sybil Perry

Her drawing shows a couple of pens which were dipped in the ink put in the well and then used until the ink held on the nib had been used and it was time to dip again. Sybil shows a school room inkwell but there were also domestic or office wells for desks which didn’t have special holes to put them in and that’s what we have at the museum.

An inkwell at Market Lavington Museum

This is placed against a centimetre scale so you can gauge the size.

In this case the well is mounted in a pewter drum and has four holes in which pens could be put. A lid can be shut down over the well to reduce evaporation when the ink was not in use.

We believe this item dates from the very early years of the twentieth century