Old thread but . . It IS an ink well, though as can be seen not always used as such. Singer marketed the cabinet to double as a writing desk. Intent was to give it another use to prevent it becoming a plant stand that was too much bother to open and use. The first cabinets, according to Singer literature, were only sold with 201s. I have seen a comment about a 1938 purchase in that combination. Some cabinets have a knee leaver mounted on the inside of the front. Some cabinets have a foot leaver that comes out of the bottom of the right side. I would like to see pictures of how it is mounted. I suspect on those cabinets the foot control was behind the bottom drawer as I have seen clips to hold wires secure on the inside back of the cabinet.