A recent discussion about dip pens, quills, and refillable fountain pens left me looking for a new accessory, an inkwell. As I've mentioned in previous posts I'm in the process of fashioning my little writer's office into my own Sam Spade-style noir detective's office and that means choosing an inkwell of the appropriate period as well as one with the appropriate nior sensibility.
What is a noir sensibility and, while we're at it, what exactly is noir? According to University Press of Kentucky:
"(Classic film noir) is characterized not only by a constant
opposition of light and shadow and a disruptive compositional balance of frames
and scenes, but also by dark, foreboding characters and plots and an overriding
sense of alienation and moral ambiguity. Noir films reflect the sense of loss,
fragmentation, and nihilism at the heart of the human condition in the
twentieth century. Although the classic film noir period ended in the late 1950s, its impact on more films
has been profound. While typically not black and white, these new films
incorporate the noir sensibility of alienation, pessimism, moral ambivalence,
and disorientation. This sensibility is obvious in films such as Blade Runner,
Reservoir Dogs, Chinatown, and Memento."
This means leaning toward the Art Deco movement's hard, geometric shapes and industrial materials, but there is a complication. Personally, I'm drawn to the fantasy of Art Nouveau with its ornamentation, exuberance, and incorporation of mythological and fantastic creatures. So, to make my office uniquely my own I'm striving to blend the two worlds. And that's how I came to my first serious inkwell crush.
I'm not sure about the age of this bronze Japanese figural inkwell, but I wish I would have found it before the auction closed. It reflects the perfect blend of art and fatalism embodied in noir and I've long collected skulls and memento mori. I guess there's nothing more noir than finding something perfect after it's too late to obtain it. The hunt goes on.
