Souvenir – Stag’s Head

Made of aluminum, oak leaves and acorns decorate the base surrounding a stag’s head. The antlers form a pen rack.  A pressed glass inkwell with a loose (not attached) lid fits into the base. This inkstand was a souvenir from Niagara Falls – marked on the nose.

Resembling silver, lightweight and expensive, aluminum was considered a precious metal at first – more valuable than gold. Around 1888 as new extraction methods were developed, production of aluminum became commercially viable and was used in making household items, including cookware and even inkwells.