Antique pewter inkwell from the 18th/19th century, ca 1800

Ink set has two removable jars, one for the ink and the other for salt or sand.
wan bottom side a drawer and two holes for the goose feathers.

The council host stands on 4 lion feet.

Is marked with 5 tin marks
a crowned X: which indicated the best quality
and underneath a four-mark : a blazon angel with IVE underneath
Probably from Den Bosch Jan van Engelen

A council cup is square or rectangular, made of metal, often tin, and provides the requisites for writing with a quill or intk pen dipped in ink. A council cup contains an ink reservoir, a salt or sand tray a lid for the ink, a measured surface with one or more holes for the feather or feathers and a small drawer at the bottom to clean up dirt in the council cup and store pens. Sometimes wafers were also kept in the drawer.

A well-executed guesser can be taken apart in its entirety, often down to the ink reservoir lid. This is to keep cleaning the council cup easy.

A councilor was explicitly the ink set of (male) notables and the nobility of Holland's cities and was widely used in the 18th century.

see the photos for a good impression, are part of the description