Swan Fountfiller For Travellers

[Goudy]

If you bumped against an Edwardian gentleman in a London street around 1910 and felt an unusual bulge in his pocket, it may have been one of these, a "Swan fountfiller for travellers":

 

http://i.imgur.com/e770hFH.jpg

 

The design is possibly inspired by London post boxes. The material is lightweight wood. The top unscrews to reveal, Russian doll like, an ink bottle inside:

 

http://i.imgur.com/y3WDCi9.jpg

 

The ink bottle is sitting on a spring mechanism, so that it pops up when you unscrew the wooden top. The ink bottle can then be lifted out. There's a printed reminder on the spring platform to buy a replacement bottle of Swan ink:

 

http://i.imgur.com/ZZrMenJ.jpg

 

The ink bottle itself has a hardened and unusable bulb and the top is gummed shut with dried ink, but is otherwise in nice condition:

 

http://i.imgur.com/nHXQSCy.jpg

 

Closed, it measures 12cm base to tip. Note the slight problem on the top of the lid which is going a bit bald where the red paint is flaking off:

 

http://i.imgur.com/yi9Oc7Z.jpg

 

The Swan trademark logo on the back - your guarantee of quality:

 

http://i.imgur.com/C1e7BhJ.jpg