Inkwells
Author: Unknown
Date: 16th century
Material: White silver
Dimensions (cm): MAS OD 1 and MAS OD 2: H 10,5 x W 11 | MAS OD 3: H 11 x W 10,5
Provenance: Guimarães, Casa do Senado
Owner: Guimarães, Câmara Municipal de Guimarães
Inventory No.: MAS OD 1, MAS OD 2 and MAS OD 3
The three Manueline inkwells are slightly bulbous and, on the upper part of each of them, there is a circular mouth surrounded by five holes of smaller diameter destined for the quills.
Around the belly, three heraldic motifs are distributed: the coat of arms of the Duke of Bragança, the coat of arms of Guimarães (the representation of Our Lady of the Olive Tree) and the armillary sphere, separated by acanthus foliage.
These were rare pieces at that time and they present a typology that isn’t very common in Portuguese civil silverware.
These three inkwells were probably a present by the fifth duke of Bragança, Dom Teodósio, to the Guimarães Senado where, together with three sand casters from the 17th century (MAS OD 4, MAS OD 5 and MAS OD 6), they would have served in the written instruments that modelled the life of local society over the centuries.