Desk accessories are the smaller objects used on or around a writing desk, including inkstands, inkwells, pen trays, blotters, letter racks, stationery boxes, paperweights, seals, paper knives, desk clocks and candlesticks. Made in silver, brass, bronze, leather, wood, glass and ceramic, they combine practical purpose with considerable decorative appeal.
The golden age of desk accessories coincided with the growth of letter writing in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Georgian silver inkstands with cut-glass wells and taper sticks, Regency bronze and ormolu desk sets, Victorian brass and oak stationery cabinets and Edwardian leather blotters all reflect the importance of correspondence in daily life. Many matching desk sets were produced, combining a blotter, letter rack, inkwell and calendar in the same material. Collectors value complete original sets, unchipped glass wells with their lids, crisp casting and fine hallmarks or retailer marks. Desk accessories from firms such as Asprey, Betjemann and Mappin & Webb attract particular interest. Today they are used both on working desks and as decorative groupings in libraries and studies, adding character to a writing table.
