Newlyn School Arts & Crafts Hammered Copper Inkstand

The Newlyn Arts & Crafts school opened in Cornwall, England in 1890 and specialized in repoussé copper work. It remained active for around 30 years and produced a wide range of decorative and domestic items displaying superb craftsmanship and purity of style.

Two examples are pictured. These inkstands of hand hammered copper feature fish and seaweed on the base and either a mythological creature or a stylized bird on the drum. The insert is hand-blown glass.

An expert on the Newlyn Arts & Crafts school, Mr. George Peters, from the town of Newlyn offered his assessment of the inkwell and the artists who crafted it: 

“This is a most unusual Newlyn Inkwell in that it combines two themes and coppersmiths probably. During the early period this rendering of gurnards, seaweed and bubbles was a favourite. However, the drum shows a mythical beast, another theme of John Mackenzie’s, but more obviously influenced by his studying with William de Morgan in London. Victorians loved their fabulous beasts! I think Philip Hodder made the base and Obed Nicholls the drum. Philip made “the four elements” which Newlyn Art Gallery’s facade was redesigned to house and was Mackenzie’s main artist at first, his work is very formal. Obed, who was paralysed below the waist, became famous later. Obed’s work has a simplicity and fluidity to it. He often sat with his sister Mary working through the evenings while she marked the School’s home work. Obed’s infirmity’s gift of time pushed him to find that sinuosity you see in the drum. The difference in copper compositions reinforces the observed design marriage. Note the sheet copper has different metals present giving marked patination mismatch. This is rare to see. Seldom do real fish and mythic dragons meet! If I had to bet, I’d say Obed found a Philip base and finished it off.”