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Meeks ink bottles
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Meeks ink bottles
I have been looking at these old ink bottles lately, some are made here I think, others which seem to be the same shape are English Doulton Lambeth.....does anyone know more about these bottles
TimCaulton- Number of posts : 163
Location : Auckland
Registration date : 2009-12-29
Meeks ink bottles
In an archaeological report http://www.cfgheritage.com/2008_72pipitea.pdf information about Meek's Inks is quoted from 'Old New Zealand Bottles and Bygones', Tasker, J. 1989, Heinemann Reed, Wellington.
It says the company W. J. Meek moved from London [62 City Road, E.C.] to Dunedin in 1886/1887 and that Meek's stopped using stoneware bottles in the 1920s.
An ad in the Evening Post, Vol XXXIII, 43, 21 February 1887, p4 gives the address "Courtenay-Place,Wellington" for W. J MEEK.
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP18870221.2.60.2&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-all
It says the company W. J. Meek moved from London [62 City Road, E.C.] to Dunedin in 1886/1887 and that Meek's stopped using stoneware bottles in the 1920s.
An ad in the Evening Post, Vol XXXIII, 43, 21 February 1887, p4 gives the address "Courtenay-Place,Wellington" for W. J MEEK.
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=EP18870221.2.60.2&l=mi&e=-------10--1----0-all
TonyK- Number of posts : 653
Location : Sydney Australia
Registration date : 2008-08-28
Re: Meeks ink bottles
Thanks for those links and info, I will be able to find out a lot more now I have this.
TimCaulton- Number of posts : 163
Location : Auckland
Registration date : 2009-12-29
Re: Meeks ink bottles
I have a couple of these ink bottles now. I wonder if any one has ever looked at them with a studio pottery eye. These bottles are thrown, and feature many good aspects of studio pots. The surfaces have finger prints, throw lines, design features similar to English examples, pinched pouring spouts......some have fire marks indicating position in the kiln. All very interesting. They remind me of the simple Korean rice bowls that the Japanese took and turned into prized tea bowls.
TimCaulton- Number of posts : 163
Location : Auckland
Registration date : 2009-12-29
Re: Meeks ink bottles
Now wondering if these old brown bottles are glazed with salt fumes or some applied glaze........I am confused
TimCaulton- Number of posts : 163
Location : Auckland
Registration date : 2009-12-29
Re: Meeks ink bottles
As I'm a pottery geek and adore salt glaze, I got out the couple of ink bottles that I've picked up. They have no makers marks - one is heavily salt glazed and one is lightly salted. Both appear to be made of stoneware clay. A quick search on google images shows that one is possibly made by Meeks as it is the same shape.
This one is definitely hand made .... I can see the finger prints below the spout, where the thumb and first finger were placed when something was drawn through the clay to make the spout. My fingers even fit these imprints .... so whoever the maker was, they had small hands. Also the ridge on the neck below the spout has been squished a little when the spout was being made.
Clay used, the amount of salt and position in the kiln determine the salt glazing effect.
This one is definitely hand made .... I can see the finger prints below the spout, where the thumb and first finger were placed when something was drawn through the clay to make the spout. My fingers even fit these imprints .... so whoever the maker was, they had small hands. Also the ridge on the neck below the spout has been squished a little when the spout was being made.
Clay used, the amount of salt and position in the kiln determine the salt glazing effect.
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