Description
I have always had a fondness for pen and ink stands. During the Imperial German Period, keeping an orderly AND interesting desk was very important to businessmen, scholars, soldiers and other important fellows. Trench art was a way to use items that a soldier might see on a daily basis and fashion them into useful objects. This pen and ink stand fills that bill quite attractively. The man who crafted this clearly had an eye for the unusual and for a means to make a desk unique. A rifle stock has been cut into a piece 11 1/2″ in length. The metal butt plate (with screws) remains in place. Three metal plates were screwed into the stock. In the center is a small ink bottle. The ink bottle could hold a small amount of ink, but has an oversized lid which also served as a magnifier. Two gun sights have been fashioned into either hooks on which to hang items or to lay pens across. They flank the ink bottle. Attached is one of the swivel loops that would have originally held the rifle’s leather sling. At the bottom of the stock, three shell casings have been screwed into the base. These act as feet to hold the pen and ink stand in an upright position. If you are looking for something really different for your desk or for display on a table or bookcase, you MUST consider this. I was quite taken with it. If you take a moment or two to study it in detail, you will be, too.
