The mysterious world of inkwells

The Mytishy Art Gallery presents a unique exhibition of antique inkwells, ink writing tools and accessories. Th exhibition showcasing more than 150 items from the private collection of Leonid Belsky.
The author of the exhibition, Leonid Belskiy, has been collecting inkwells for many years. His private collection includes more than 400 inkwells from more than 40 countries dated from XVII to XX century.This is one of the largest private collections in the former USSR.
There are eight different sections presented at the exhibition:
A section describing the evolution of ink writing accessories over last 5000 years from Ancient Egypt to XX century:
- from reed pens to quill pens and from quills pens to nib pens
- from papyrus to parchment and from parchment to paper
A section of antique inkwells presents more than 60 antique inkwells from several countries, made from various materials in many different styles. The amazing story of inkwell transformation from basic vessels into luxurious interior items.
Another section called "The mysterious world of inkwells" gave its name to this exhibition. This section presents very rare inkwells and inkstands with interesting stories and unsolved secrets.
A section of fountain pens tells a very interesting story how the design and fashion was rapidly changing in the 20th century. The section presents iconic models that at the time changed the world of fountain pens.
There are also examples of modern fountain pens limited edition, which are in high demand among collectors of exclusive writing instruments.
A section of old handwritten manuscripts presents original letters and postcards from XIX century. The visitors can try to read Pushkin and Dostoevsky handwriting and learn interesting facts about their inkwells and writing tools.
This interesting section shows how quills, ink and parchment are still being used by sofers (jewish scribes).There are examples of traditional Jewish religious handwriting for Torah scrolls, tefillin and mezuzahs.
Another section called “The forgotten 20th Century desk accessories” presents items that used to be on the desk next to the inkwells, but now they have become obsolete and have disappeared from our daily lives.
The exhibition also presents "The largest inkwell in the world", prepared by the author for submission to the Guinness Book of Records.
As part of the organized tours, visitors have a unique opportunity to try writing using various old pens (reeds, quills, nib and fountain pens).

[@martinbachmann6283]

VERY nice instructional-video for sure! This Russian Gentleman indeed, has an AWESOME collection! Being a retired career elementary-ed/early childhood Teacher, I VERY MUCH enjoyed the part of this presentation where they gave the valuable opportunity to the young people pictured, to test ALL the various writing-instrument methods during this program. Even though I've been a fountain-pen writer/lover all my life, had I been "the Teacher" who went along with these lucky Kids? YES! I would have enjoyed this experience just as much as they all did!

[@kevinrichard5468]

Can you take a look at my inkwell it's really old

[@cazkiwinz4300]

🫶💋