Sale: CNG 72, Lot: 2896. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 14 June 2006.  Sold For $550. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

[Bronze objects] ROMAN. Bronze ink pot. Circa 1st-2nd century AD. Height 6cm, diameter 4.5cm. Spun bronze traveling ink pot with screw-on lid. Plain construction and decoration, with raised band on body and lid. Very thin, fragile metal, a small fragment broken out of the side. Lid is corroded shut. Variegated green patina.

Ancient ink (atramentum) took many forms, including one similar to our modern India ink, made from carbon (soot) bound with some form of resin. Others were made from the ink of cuttlefish (sepia), while Pliny notes the manufacture of ink from the dregs of wine.