A cast bronze inkstand made by the Dryad Metalworks, circa 1912.

A rare, and I suspect, early inkstand by Dryad Metalworks. Harry Peach and William Pick formed the Dryad Metalworks in 1912. William Pick was a former student at the Leicester School of Art and good friends with the Headmaster, Benjamin Fletcher. Pick formed Collins and Co around 1903 and produced jewellery and metalwork in the Arts and Craft style. He continued to have strong links with the Leicester School of Art and exhibited at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society exhibitions with pieces designed and made by notable others such as Alfred Jephcott and Robert J. Emerson. Even after starting the Dryad works Pick manufactured many designs by the Leicester School faculty which also now included former Guild of Handicraft member, John Sydney Reeve.

This inkstand however was designed by Robert Jackson Emerson. The sculptural figures are such a distinctive feature of his designs. More information on Robert J. Emerson can be found here:

Marked with Dryad Lester to the base.