Discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii fueled a cult for all things classical in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, evident in this inkstand and pyrophorus vase combination.  The two functions are accomodated in a form based on the sort of ancient oil lamps that would been treasured as archeological artifacts.

Even the color combination of basalt and rosso antico was suggestive of Mediterranean artifacts and was utilized again and again by Wedgwood for pieces closely based on ancient models. The simple decoration of a simple laurel band was appropriate for a household object like an oil lamp.

The largest opening in the stand accomodated a separate inkwell which has survived with the piece.

In Wedgwood, Volume II, Robin Reilly discusses the pyrophorous vase and inkstand combination (pp. 452-455 and illustrates a group of factory molds from the Wedgwood Museum,  including a form similar to this example (p. 454, fig.720)

According to Reilly, the pyrophorous vase pheonmenon was at it s height between 1812 and 1817, disappearing around 1827 with the invention of the first friction matches.  A sliver of wood was tipped with an agent which ignited when touched to a concentrated solution of sulphuric acid.  Wedgwood is credited as the first manufacturer to create decorative items accomodating the process with separate compartments for matches and a flask of acid. 

Combining the vases with inkstand was a practical concept. Most collectors when confronted with these pieces, however, assume they are inkstands with mysterious extra openings.