Champlevé Inkwell with Clock, Pen Rest

This champlevé inkstand is made of brass or bronze, with an onyx base. It features an urn shaped inkwell with hinged lid. The inkwell and lid are decorated in the champlevé process.  This inkwell is missing its insert; it likely would have had a clear glass insert originally.

A tall back plate, also decorated with champlevé, is attached behind the inkwell. A wind-up clock is inset at the top of this plate. The clock has hour and minute hands, and no longer works. It is forever 7:15.

Two brass-bronze pen rests are attached in front of the inkwell.

The green onyx (or possibly alabaster) at the base is attached to a brass base. Four feet lift it off the desk a bit.

Champlevé is a very old enameling process, similar to cloisonné in that each process involves a metal base and colored enamel. Cloisonné uses thin wire to create the small cells where the enamel will be placed and fired. The cells in champlevé are created by carving the metal away. The metal that remains is usually somewhat thicker or wider in champlevé than it is in cloisonné.  You will often see decorative tooling or carving on the metal that remains as well, as in this inkstand. The metal is also often gilded. Most of the champlevé inkwells were made in France around the end of the 1800s into the very early 1900s. Some champlevé inkwells were made in Russia as well; the patterns used were quite different from the floral designs used in French champlevé.