A small tray containing pens and an inkwell; (by extension) a pot for holding ink, inkpot, inkwell.
1765, Laurence Sterne, letter published in Original Letters of the Late Reverend Mr. Laurence Sterne, never before published, London: 1788, pp. 89-90,
[…] if I thought any thing I might hereafter write would be within their reach, I would throw the Manuscript that is now before me into the fire, and never dip my pen into my Ink-stand again […]