Nested Cup Weights
date: label: date made
content: 1652-1698
name: label: maker
content: Schirmer, J. P.
label: maker
content: Schirmer, Chr
notes: label: Description
content: Nested cups were primarily used by merchants to measure coins. Four examples of nested cup weights are found within the Squibb Apothecary Collection, all of which were manufactured during the (c.) seventeenth century in the Bavarian City of Nuremberg. At this time, as an imperial-free city, Nuremberg maintained a strong economy supported by a sizable middle class. Prospering within this class was a strong contingent of artisans who were considered to be the elite of Europe. Included amongst these craftsmen was a skilled and exacting guild of cooper-masters who held a monopoly over the world's production of nested-cup weights.
label: Description
content: The nested cup weights were designed to make the transport of weights, essential items in most commercial transactions, more convenient. The idea of nesting weights, which dates back to Roman times, was to increase the portability of weight sets by compacting an entire group of weights into a container. In the nested cup form, a series of weights shaped into cups are set one into the other, forming a stack which is stored within a house vessel. Each of the cups fit precisely into the next, larger sized cup, which each larger example weighing exactly twice that of the one previous. Furthermore the weight of the house was made to equal the total weight of the cup stack. In this manner, systems of weights were created that allowed for precise and flexible measurements, and could be contained within organized conveyable units.
label: Description
content: During the 16th century, the appearance of the nested cup weights became increasingly elaborate, as the Nuremberg copper-masters adorned the with houses in styles inspired by the German Renaissance. House lids were embellished by such fantastical ornaments as mermaids, dolphins, sea-horses or soldiers, and geometric designs, or scenes like hunting excursions were often stamped upon the sets in circular patterns around the house body.
label: Description
content: The copper-masters or "rotschmiedmeisters," who made nested weights began to stamp a unique "makers mark" upon their wares. Weight adjustments from various cities, whose jobs were to verify and adjust weights to local standards, also left distinctive marks upon the sets they examined. It is thought the use of these impressions identify both the manufacturer, and the place of use where a given set might be found.
label: Description
content: Interestingly testing with an X-Ray Flrorescence Spectrometer showed the metal content of the outer container and lid to 75% copper, 13% lead and 7% zinc with trace metals of antimony, iron and Niobium. All measurements are approximate.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Germany: Bavaria, Nuremberg
topic: label: Subject
content: Medicine
label: Subject
content: Pharmacy
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
label: See more items in
content: European Apothecary
label: See more items in
content: Art
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Danforth, Ellen Zak. A Catalog of Nested Cup Weights in the Edward Streeter Collection of Weights and Measures.
label: Related Publication
content: Houben, Gerard M.M.. 200 Years of Nested Cup Weights
label: Related Publication
content: Kisch, Bruno. Scales and Weights, A Historical Outline
label: Related Publication
content: Urdang, George and Ferdinand William Nitardy. The Squibb Ancient Pharmacy: A Catalogue of the Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of American Pharmaceutical Association and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0664.0485
label: accession number
content: 1991.0664
label: catalog number
content: M-05697
label: collector/donor number
content: SAP 408
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0664.0485
objectType: label: Object Name
content: nested cup weights
label: Object Name
content: weights
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 11.5 cm x 11.8 cm x 10.1 cm; 4 1/2 in x 4 5/8 in x 4 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 3/8 in x 5 1/8 in x 4 in; 11.1125 cm x 13.0175 cm x 10.16 cm