Glass Horseshoe & Jockey’s Cap Inkwell

This inkwell has an English registration number 95166 which refers to a novelty inkwell designed in an equestrian theme, featuring a heavy pressed glass base shaped like a horseshoe and a hinged lid shaped like a jockey’s cap.

Historical & Design Details

• The Registration Number: The designation “Rd. No. 95166” (or “Reg. No.”) is a British design registration mark. This confirms its English origin and dates the protection of the specific design to the late Victorian era, right around the year 1888–1890.
• Aesthetic Theme: Driven by the Victorian obsession with sporting, horse racing, and novelty desk accessories, this inkwell was a popular gift of “equestrian interest”.
• Physical Specifications: It measures approximately 4 inches wide, 4.5 inches long, and 3.25 inches high. The number is molded directly into the glass on the front heel of the horseshoe.

Because the British design registry records from the Victorian era are primarily archived in physical ledgers at The National Archives (Kew, England), the exact glassworks or foundry that registered design number 95166 is not published online.

However, looking at how the Victorian novelty inkwell market operated reveals exactly how these items were made and distributed:

1. The Glass Manufacturer (The Likely Registrant)

The British Board of Trade issued registration number 95166 in early 1888. Because the core of this inkwell is heavy, thick, pressed clear glass, the design rights would have been registered under Class III (Glass) by one of the prominent English flint glass manufacturers of the era. The primary contenders operating in the major glassmaking hubs at that time include:

• George Davidson & Co. (Teams Glass Works, Gateshead) – One of the largest producers of pressed glass novelty items in the late 19th century.
• Sowerby’s Ellison Glass Works (Gateshead) – Famous for registering hundreds of whimsical, figural, and sporting-themed glass designs.
• Henry Greener & Co. (Sunderland) – Another major northeastern powerhouse known for decorative pressed glass objects.

2. The Metalworkers & Silversmiths

Glass factories typically only manufactured the glass horseshoe base and cap. They then sold these blanks to silversmiths, brass foundries, or luxury retailers who added the hardware (collars, hinges).

3. Retail Distribution

Once finished, these inkwells were distributed to high-street stationers and luxury retailers across the UK, packaged as “novelties” or “good luck charms” (due to the horseshoe) aimed squarely at the horse racing and sporting crowd.