Encrier Puit En Fer Forgé Et Granit, Epoque Louis XVI Fin 18e Siècle, Plombières - Lorraine

Rare well-shaped inkwell, very fine wrought-iron work and pink Vosges granite bowl. Late 18th century, Louis XVI period.

Our piece is a very rare example of a craft that developed in Plombières les Bains, a spa town in the Vosges whose origins date back to the 2nd century with the first thermal baths built by the Romans. Known as a fashionable resort under the Second Empire, with visits from Napoleon III, it was already a great success in the 18th century with the Dukes of Lorraine, Montaigne, Mesdames Adélaïde and Victoire, daughters of Louis XV of France, Voltaire and Beaumarchais.
It was at this time that a cutting-edge craft specific to Plombières developed to satisfy this tourist "market": the manufacture of small showcase objects, masterpieces of blacksmithing in extremely finely forged steel; small objects with balls that were then faceted like diamonds: belt buckles, shoe buckles, sword handles sheathed in shagreen, aumonieres, small pieces of furniture in reduction and other showcase objects. Our inkwell is one of them, perfectly functional as a real well. The bucket, which fills with ink, can be lifted up to dip the quill in. On the side is a bucket for storing the dried quill. The well is also equipped with a tap to hold a candle and act as a candle-holder.

This is a very rare collector's item, a highly confidential production reserved for discerning collectors.

Provenance, a large Lorraine collection, on the same property since the early 19th century, where a collection of some fifty pieces from Plombières was displayed, a set that will probably end up in the collections of a museum in eastern France. Our inkwell was the most beautiful piece (see last photos).

perfect condition

Height 15.5cm
Width 10cm

Ref: 765Y16LCZQ