Neptune and Maiden Embracing

This inkstand was made by the Kathodian Bronze Works (KBW), a company active in New York City from about 1900 to 1918. Their mark is “KBW” or ARTBRONZ. Bronze-clad was a manufacturing process by which a skin of bronze (or copper) was deposited on a plaster form through electro-plating. Their business model involved making decorative household items (especially bookends) that had the look, feel, and heft of solid bronze, yet were affordable by the middle class.

The company advertised it this way:

“…represents the perfected development of a process that permits a scientific and heavy seamless deposit of Government test bronze applied over a reinforced baser core – resulting in a finished product, the equal of cast bronze in finish, workmanship and durability at one-tenth the prices.” 

This inkstand features a couple in a passionate embrace.  The male figure is Neptune (god of the seas) – note his trident in the upper left corner.