Types of Ink Bottles & Pens

Umbrella Ink Bottle

• The umbrella ink bottle, typically made of glass, is one of the more common types and dates back several centuries. It gets its name from its shape, which consists of a wide, usually octagonal bottom that slopes upward to a small opening at the top. The result is a similar to the shape of an umbrella. Cone ink bottles, which historically have also been quite common, follow the same basic shape except that they have less detail and therefore cost less. These types of ink bottles are small enough to be considered portable and work with any type of dipping pen.

Master Ink Bottle

• The master ink bottle, which is typically several times larger than an umbrella or cone ink bottle, is used as the reservoir for a particular kind of ink. It was not typical to dip a pen straight into a master ink bottle; instead the master ink bottle was used to fill a smaller one, which could be easily carried around and used to refill pens. Master ink bottles where often made of glass as well as clay pottery, which is more durable than glass and less likely to crack.

Fountain Pen

• Most fountain pens today are made with slots for ink capsules, so ink bottles are not necessary. Throughout history, however, most fountain pens were intended to work hand and hand with a nearby ink bottle. These are also known as nib pens, a term that refers to the pointed tip designed to retrieve ink from a bottle when dipped. What sets the fountain pen apart from other pens is the way in which the nib retrieves the ink, which is drawn into the nib, stored and, through capillary action, evenly dispensed when the pen is put to paper.

Quill Pen

• A quill pen was a device that didn't need to be invented but rather literally plucked from nature. The word quill is also the term that describes the ligament found along feathers, specifically the flight feathers of a bird. These special feathers were for centuries the ideal ink-based writing tool. While there is technically no nib on at the end of the quill pen, the tip of the feather is sharpened and used to scoop small amounts of ink at a time from the bottle. Naturally, a quill pen needs to be refilled more often than a nib pen.