Historical information

This item is a nib pen which may have been used for correspondence or record-keeping in a home, business or school setting. The manufacturer, Hinks, Wells & Co. of Birmingham, England, was founded in 1836 and produced approximately 1.82 million pens a year by 1852.

Prior to innovations in fountain pen nibs and filling systems that made them cleaner and more reliable to use, such as internal storage reservoirs to hold a supply of ink within the body of the pen, writing was conducted at a writing desk containing an inkwell. This was refilled from a larger bottle or (prior to the beginning of the Nineteenth Century) filled with ink reconstituted from powder form or dissolved from a tablet or cake of dry ink.

Significance

The item is significant for the insights it provides into the development of writing technologies generally and the application of these to writing practices used by schools and businesses and offices in Emerald and the surrounding region.

Physical description

Varnished wooden shaft with metal bracket fixed to one end, into which a metal nib has been inserted. This item is a nib pen which may have been used to write in a home, school or business setting. The varnished barrel of the pen displays significant wear associated with use. The style of pen is designed to be dipped frequently into an inkwell as it does not have an internal reservoir to supply ink to the nib. Pens with internal reservoirs became common in the mid-twentieth Century which indicates this pen may have been used in the preceding decades.

Inscriptions & markings

Nib:
HINKSWE & CO. /
STANDARD /
MEDIUM /
ENGL /

Nib bracket:
HINKSWELLS & CO. /
BEST /
ACCOMMODATION /
BIRMINGHAM /