Originally Posted by great aunt jacqui
it looks like an old inkwell, we used o have in our scool desks. maybe the cabinet was a combo sewing and desk? Also the recessed part on the left would be for pens or quills. It maybe an add on because the woods seem different. Just grabbing at ideas.lol
Yup, I agree with it being an inkwell. I actually had one in my desk in grade school. It was special treat when they would actually put ink into them fro us to use. 'guess they didn't trust us very much! That would have been in the 1950's.