I have limited experience, not being an art/artifact historian, but I’ve found that provenance is very difficult to establish when an item is missing it. We have two items inherited from my husband’s family: a portrait of Herman LeRoy, who was the first president of the Bank of New York, secretary to John Adams, and ally of Alexander Hamilton; and an inkwell inscribed ‘TJ’ said to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson.

Herman LeRoy was an ancestor of my husband’s, as was TJ. In the case of the portrait, it appears to have been painted by Rembrandt Peale, and the style, period and location are all correct. But I paid an art researcher to see if she could authenticate that, and because the portrait has never been out of the family, there is no provenance. Curse lousy record-keeping!

The provenance of the inkwell is a little stronger, but it is not unbroken.

Then there is the case of a travelling medicine chest, reputed to have belonged to Horatio Nelson, that resides in the vestry of his childhood church in Burnham Thorpe, where his father was the rector. I once said I might undertake to try and verify its shaky provenance, but quickly discovered that this was almost a Sisyphean task. We have really nothing more than the word of the person who donated it. I decided to subscribe to the philosophy of its custodian at the time, who said, ‘As long as I am its steward, that *is* Horatio Nelson’s medicine chest.’

So perhaps what you have there *is* Charles Dickens’s inkwell.

Happy New Year, and best wishes!

GA, your friend Libby Hall showed excellent judgment in gifting you Charles Dickins’ ink well. Indeed, the gift of a lifetime. Enjoy it in good health.

That is my favorite image of the writer sketched by his sister Fan during that eventful first American tour in 1842. By most accounts, his second visit was more to his liking – staying in Boston at the Parker House and embraced by the literari of the day. The tour was also quite lucrative for Dickens despite his having to endure the adulation of the masses.

How fortunate that your inkwell (surely “evidence of the past”) has come to you, and is now providing nourishment for your creative spirit every day.

How fortunate for YOU, and how fortunate for US, your readers.

Regardless of origin, the artefact has become a storied object. Kismet!

You might be interested in the following links, which reflect the power of any items connected to celebrity, however dubious (in the case I mention) its provenance.

https://www.rlf.org.uk/showcase/are-you-reel/

https://www.sallykindberg.co.uk/notebook/2021/02/sally-kindberg-looks-at-dickenss-fanmail-in-broadstairs/

Best wishes

Sally K

Love & Peace
ACHIM