First seen during the 1800’s, the handheld ink blotter, or ‘rocker blotter’ was a necessity at the writing desk, used to absorb excess ink from fountain or dip pens. The rocker blotter quickly replaced the previously used ‘pounce’ as the favoured way of drying ink, and was a popular item up until the introduction of the ball point pen in 1888. Recently the use of fountain pens has had a resurgence, and with this the rocker blotter has once again become a desirable and sought after item.