Locomotive Ink Bottle

Item Description: Early Locomotive Ink Bottle

This antique novelty ink bottle is crafted in the figural shape of an early steam locomotive engine.

• Material & Color: Light aqua-colored glass.
• Molding & Manufacture: Blown in a mold with an applied, slightly flared lip (BIMAL—Blown in a Mold, Applied Lip). The construction utilizes a snap case device to hold the bottle by its base while the neck and lip were finished, leaving no pontil scar on the bottom.
• Details & Modeling: The bottle features an upright smokestack that serves as the neck/aperture for dipping a pen. Behind the smokestack sits a rounded steam dome. The sides of the boiler are detailed with horizontal bands, sitting atop two pairs of prominent spoked wheels on each side. The flat rectangular back simulates the rear cab configuration.
• Embossed Inscriptions: Left Side: Embossed in a raised rectangular panel on the boiler side: PAT OCT 1874
  • Right Side: Embossed in a matching raised rectangular panel on the opposite side: TRADE MARK

Patent Identification

The formal patent associated with this exact date and specification is:

• Patent Number: Design Patent No. 7,816
• Grant Date: October 13, 1874
• Inventor: Charles L. Lochman
• Residence: Carlisle, Pennsylvania
• Invention Title: Design for Inkstands

Patent Summary

Charles L. Lochman—a prominent 19th-century Pennsylvania photographer, botanist, and manufacturing chemist known for his proprietary “Chemical Writing Fluid” and medical inks—secured this protection under the United States design patent statutes.

Rather than claiming a mechanical utility function or an internal valve mechanism, the patent strictly claims the ornamental and aesthetic configuration of a writing fluid container shaped like a railroad locomotive. The design configuration specifies using the locomotive’s vertical smokestack as the natural neck and mouth of the bottle to facilitate easy access for a dip pen, seamlessly blending Gilded Age industrial novelty with a utilitarian vessel for holding ink.