Ink Pot

This brass ink-well is in the form of a highly stylised elephant with the head , trunk and two front legs jutting out prominently from a bulging semi-circular body which serves as container for ink. On top of the well is a small opening with a lid in the shape of a kirtimukha, the preventor of evil eye. The writer dips the reed or nib of the pen into the well from this opening for writing. One of the possible objectives of having the elephant head on the well is to invoke the deity Ganesha who is proverbially believed to have written down the epic Mahabharata as dictated by the Sage Vyasa. Ganesha is also invoked by the Hindu trading communities at the start of their respective New Year, when new account books are opened.