Pounce Pot
Brooklyn Museum photograph
Object Label
Pounce pots were filled with a powder, often made from dried fishbone, that was sprinkled on ink to secure writing to paper.
Caption
Pounce Pot, ca. 1820. Staffordshire earthenware, 2 3/4 x 2 9/16 in. (7 x 6.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of H. Randolph Lever in memory of Mary E. Lever, 62.78.11. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 62.78.11_acetate_bw.jpg)
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Title
Pounce Pot
Date
ca. 1820
Medium
Staffordshire earthenware
Classification
Dimensions
2 3/4 x 2 9/16 in. (7 x 6.5 cm)
Signatures
no signature
Inscriptions
no inscriptions
Markings
no marks
Credit Line
Gift of H. Randolph Lever in memory of Mary E. Lever
Accession Number
62.78.11
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
I have a question about the Pounce Pot. What kind of powder was used and was this the first evolution to “permanent ink”?
The pounce contained in this pounce pot was usually made of pumice or gum sandarac, a resin made from cypress trees. While ink already had staying power, the pounce would help the ink to dry faster and not smudge during the writing process.
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