Waterman ink

Ink bottle with original box. Inkpots and bottles were essential writing tools in schools until pens were introduced around 1940–50. They could sit on top of school desks or be fitted into them. A quill with a pointed metal nib was used to write. The nib was inserted into the mouth of the inkwell to fill it with ink, and students would then move it along the paper to trace lines, write, and draw. The teacher would usually have a bottle of liquid ink which they would divide among the students' inkwells. Teachers even had to prepare ink by grinding bars of ink or getting sachets of ink powder.