“Beehive” Form Ink Bottle

Description

This domed ink bottle with an offset neck designed in a beehive or “skep” form.

• Form & Design: The body mimics a traditional woven straw beehive (skep) with pronounced horizontal basket-weave ribbing. The angled, offset spout extending from the base allowed the user to dip a dip pen into a shallow reservoir without plunging deep into the main body, keeping ink off the pen barrel and helping manage sediment.
• Glass & Finish: It is blown in standard aquamarine utility glass. The spout opening features a rough ground or cracked-off rim, which originally would have been fitted with a cork.

Age & Manufacturing Details

• Estimated Age: c. 1860s – 1880s.
• Snap-Case Era: The absence of a pontil scar on the smooth base indicates use of a snap case tool. In glassmaking, snap cases replaced pontil rods around 1850–1860 to hold the bottle body while finishing the mouth without leaving a jagged scar on the bottom.
• Production Method: It was mold-blown into a two- or three-piece iron mold to achieve the detailed weave pattern, then held by a snap case while the spout was sheared and finished.

Origin

• Location: United States
• Context: While teakettle-style inks originated in France and Germany (often sold stationers as “French Inks”), American glassworks rapidly produced their own molded variations throughout the mid-to-late 19th century. Aquamarine beehives of this snap-case style were widely manufactured by American glass houses (such as those in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, or the Pittsburgh glass district).