Inkwells
Porcelain inkwells are left overs from the days when every desk in the land had at least one inkwell. It may be hard to remember, but even the rich and famous used inkwells on a daily basis. Thus fancy and/or ornate inkwells made a great gift for many.
Porcelain is impervious to ink, so it made a great material for manufacturing inkwells. Since the market for inkwells included the wealthy, inkwell manufacturers could creat inkwells for all price ranges. As a result inkwells can now be collected in a price range to fit every budget.