Pounce, powdered cuttlefish or pumice combined with sandarach resin, was a preparation made to condition vellum and parchment from mediaeval times.
However, this pounce pot, made of three sections of turned lignum vitae, the ‘wood of life’ from the West Indies and Central America, was made at the end of the eighteenth century for use during the short period of time between the necessary preparation of skin or paper and the arrival of blotting paper. Pounce was now just powdered sandarach; hence the alternative name for these things as sander or sand dredger. Powdered sandarach was now sprinkled onto the wet ink in order to prevent spreading, after which the paper was formed into a cone and the powder returned to the pot via the dished and perforated top.
English circa 1780.
dia:3 in x h:3.75 in
Item Code: 5362
£ 425
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