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INK BOTTLE
Unique ID: MAS-D100074
Object type certainty: Probably
Workflow
status: Published 
A collection of four ink bottles; one large and three small.
The larger stoneware ink bottle displays a pourer on the rim and is glazed with a feldspathic glaze. This type of ink bottle was introduced in the 1860s and were superseded by glass bottles by the first decade of the 20th century. Cylindrical stoneware ink bottles were made in England in large quantities throughout the Victorian era. The bottles varied widely in size and were not all brown. The larger or master bottles with a pouring lip brown bottles were commonly used for ink. The pouring spout would be used to distribute the ink in to smaller wells (Hume 2001).
Of the three smaller stoneware ink bottles, two are glazed with a feldspathic glaze. This type of ink bottle was introduced in the mid-19th century and were superseded by glass bottles by the first decade of the 20th century. Small ink bottles or wells were usually no more than four inches high and did not have a pouring spout like the master bottles as they were intended to be dipped into (Hume 2001). These ink bottles came in two main varieties; very squat cinders or wide-based cones.
Notes:
These items were found with six stoneware seltzer bottles (MAS-D100065), four stoneware beverage bottles (MAS-D100066), two green glass wine bottles (MAS-D100068), three aqua glass bottles (MAS-D100071), one Hamilton bottle (MAS-D100072), six small bowls (MAS-D100076) and one egg cup (MAS-D100078).
All of these items were recovered from the wreck of SS Strathclyde, a British trading steamship built in 1871 in Blackwood, Port Glasgow. The ship sank in 1876 off Dover whilst carrying 23 passengers and 47 crew for Bombay, following a collision with Franconia and resulting in the loss of 38 lives.
NRHE and Kent HER reference numbers cited in this record refer to the wreck of SS Strathclyde.
The location of SS Strathclyde was taken from the British National Grid co-ordinate from the National Record of the Historic Environment.
Class:
Written communications
Sub class: Writing and drawing equipment
Subsequent actions
Current location of find: With finder
Subsequent action after recording: Submitted as wreck to the Receiver of Wreck
Wreck details
Droit number: 173/17
Chronology
Broad period: NINETEENTH CENTURY
Period from: NINETEENTH CENTURY
Period to: MODERN
Dimensions and weight
Quantity: 4
Discovery dates
Date(s) of discovery: Monday 24th July 2017
Personal details
Found by: This information is restricted for your login.
Recorded by: L R
Identified by: L M
Secondary identifier: V L
Other reference numbers
NRHE monument number: 813607
Other reference: Kent HER Number: TR 33 NW 23
Droit ID: 173/17
Materials and construction
Spatial coordinates
4 Figure: TR3438
Four figure Latitude: 51.09353995
Four figure longitude: 1.34042371
1:25K map: TR3438
1:10K map: TR33NW
Display four figure position on What3Words
Unmasked grid reference accurate to a 1 metre square.
References cited
- Hume, I. N, 2001 A Guide to the Artifacts of Colonial America Pennsylvania : University of Pennsylvania Press, 79 ,
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