Dwarf’s Head

This continental European cast zinc alloy inkwell features the head of a leering, bearded dwarf whose pointed ears accommodate dip pens!  He boasts an embossed tasseled cap that lifts to reveal a blown glass ink bottle (permanently installed).  The cap has a hand-hammered rivet attaching it with a tin-band hinge to the head – perhaps an old repair. One could rest a pen on the protruding beard. The surface of the metal is a stone-gray with a natural age-toned patina.  The holes on the hat and forehead indicate there may have been a latch of some sort.