Education was a mark of privilege and good breeding in the American colonies and early Republic, particularly for young women who had limited access to schooling. In the upper echelons of American society, many women read widely and exchanged ideas through letters. This inkwell embodies the symbolic importance of female literacy. It was given by Elizabeth Willing Powel (1743–1830) of Philadelphia to her close acquaintance and confident Sophia Harrison Otis (1798–1874) of Boston, members of two of the nation’s most prominent families. A second, identical inkstand was given by Powel to Eleanor (Nelly) Parke Custis Lewis, the adopted daughter of George Washington. The form of the inkwell employs elements popular in Continental empire design. The British porcelain manufacturer Spode made a strikingly similar inkwell with three sphinxes in the 1810s, which the Philadelphia silversmith Harvey Lewis may have used as a model. The winged monopodia on both the porcelain and silver inkstands had feathered headdresses derived from Native American regalia, a detail that European artists frequently deployed on allegorical depictions of America. This subtle embellishment would have had particular resonance for Powel, Otis, and Lewis, whose families were enmeshed in the politics of the new nation.