Inkstand 1802 John Plimmer The inkstand has four vase-shaped containers supported in tripod frames that suggest, in miniature, the stands of antiquity that Europeans called "Atheniennes." Two of the containers have holes in the covers for pens and inks and a third has a pierced design on the cover for sand, which served to dry the ink. The fourth container probably held waferssmall readymade paste-disks for sealing letters. There is a deep slot on each of the long sides for pens and a tray to contain other equipment, such as spare quills and the pen knife that was used to recut quills when they split or frayed from use. A medley of decorative motifs combine for the ornament of what would be otherwise a plain rectangular low box with inkwells on its top. The feet are formed of bunched acanthus leaves and above them, on the diagonally cut corners, are lion masks with a suggestion of Egyptian pharaonic headdresses. The oval at the center of the tray which holds the ring drawer-pull enclo