Porcelain Inkwell with Forget-Me-Nots

This is a porcelain inkwell in a cubic shape.

• Design: The body is square with a soft pink ground color. It features hand-painted floral decoration, likely intended to be forget-me-nots (blue flowers with yellow centers) on brown branches with green leaves.
• Construction: The inkwell is fitted with a brass collar and hinged lid.
• Interior: The interior reveals the plain white porcelain body underneath the pink glaze.

When and where was it made?

• Date: This style is typical of the late 19th century, circa 1880–1900. The brass mounting and the specific style of hand-painting were very popular during the Victorian era for “fancy goods” sold in stationers and gift shops.
• Origin: It is most likely of Continental European origin.
  • “Old Paris” (Vieux Paris): It fits the general category often referred to by collectors as “Old Paris” porcelain. This isn’t a single factory, but a term used for the many porcelain workshops in and around Paris that produced decorative wares, often unmarked, throughout the 19th century.

Marks on the Bottom

Looking closely at the bottom, the markings are incised (scratched into the clay before it was fired), not painted.

• Mold Numbers: The numbers (which look like “224” or similar) are mold numbers. They tell the factory which shape mold to use to cast the square body.
• Workman’s Marks: The other scrawls (like the stylized “H” or check mark) are likely potter’s or gilder’s tally marks. These were used internally by the factory to track which worker formed or decorated the piece for payment purposes.

It was very common for this type of commercial decorative porcelain to be unsigned by the specific artist or factory. The lack of a printed factory stamp (like “Limoges” or “Meissen”) suggests it was made by one of the hundreds of smaller, unbranded workshops operating in Europe at the time.