"The pen and the inkwell have been found,
Up to the bottom the ink is dried."

(Sándor Petőfi)

In September, the start month for a new school year, an inkwell from Văcărești is exhibited in the Szekler Museum of Ciuc. No other antique artifact would be more connected to this occasion, than a school and writing history related object.

The Hungarian “kalamáris” and the Romanian „călimară” are words from the medieval Latin calamarium, meaning inkwell. The word calamarium is derived from the word calamus, which means reed or cane. In ancient Rome, the scribe used to cut the reed in order to write on the wax tablets. By the time of using the inkwell, the quill pen became a writing utensil as well.

In the beginning the inkwell was a simple horn that was stuck into the opening of the writing shelf, but when the scribe went on a journey, he carried it in a leather belt tied around his waist. Later, the inkwell got a form that could be adjusted to the desk or writing table without tipping over.

The simpler, vernacular earthenware inkwell were made of leaded tiles. Such inkpots were in the shape of a slit or heart. The ones made of copper or silver (for nobles) and with a decorative finish, were not homemade but were bought from a merchant. These pieces were also bought as gifts. In the accounts of the Nádasdi family from 1540-1550 we read: “1545. Septembris 23. The day I bought in Prague an inkwell and a scissor for my wife, paying one forint and eighteen coins...” Accordingly, the inkwell was not only an ornament in the room, but could also have a considerable inventory value.

In 1812, Ferenc Kazinczy wrote: "There is not recommended to keep a wooden, keratin and especially metallic inkwell. The wooden absorbs the ink, the copper, iron and silver ones are making the ink reddish. There is nothing better than a glass or a porcelain inkwell. It will absorb or spoil the ink." A writer, who used these tools constantly, knew better what they must been made of, than the aristocrat who bought them mostly as gifts.

The lead-based earthenware inkwell from the ethnographic storeroom of the Szekler Museum of Ciuc dates from 1783, originated from Văcărești. It was donated to the museum by László Fodor, probably on the occasion of the ethnographic and ecclesiastical art exhibition organized by Pál Péter Domokos, Géza Vámszer and Imre Nagy in 1930, Șumuleu Ciuc. Usually, the inkwell had two vessels, one for ink and the other for dusting (used to sprinkle freshly written text so that it would not smear). The one from Văcărești is also a two-part inkwell, with two holes separated by a wall at the top, into which cylindrical rimmed vessels fitted, but in our case only the ink vessel is preserved, the dusting vessel is missing. The inkwell includes a buttermilk pot also. The vessel is not particularly decorated, but the date 1783 appears on the front. The owner is unknown, but it could have belonged to a teacher or even a more wealthy, literate person.

Levente Málnási
ethnographer-museologist