Set of Drawing Instruments
date: label: date made
content: early 20th century
notes: label: Description
content: This wooden bar-lock case is covered with black leather and lined with black satin and velvet. A silver metal plate on the lid has been scratched with the letters: E R. A compartment inside the lid (such as often held a protractor) is empty. The case holds:
label: Description
content: 1) 1-1/2" German silver trammels for a beam compass with pen point attachment.
label: Description
content: 2) 3" steel bow pencil and two bow dividers. The handle for the bow pencil is different from those on the dividers.
label: Description
content: 3) 6" German silver and steel proportional dividers, marked on one side for circles from 7 to 20 and for lines from 3/4 to 10. The other side is marked for planes from 2 to 10 and for solids from 2 to 10.
label: Description
content: 4) 5-1/2" German silver dividers with bendable legs and removable needle points. One leg may be replaced with 3" German silver and steel pen and pencil point attachments. All three pieces and the dividers are marked: 24.
label: Description
content: 5) 4-3/4" brass and steel fixed leg dividers. One point may be adjusted.
label: Description
content: 6) 4-1/4" brass compass with pencil point. The legs are bendable.
label: Description
content: 7) 4" brass and steel drawing compass with pen point and bendable legs.
label: Description
content: 8) 2-1/8" brass and steel pen point that does not appear to fit any instrument in the set.
label: Description
content: 9) 4-1/2" German silver pricker with ivory handle.
label: Description
content: 10) 4-1/2", 5-1/4", and 5-1/2" steel drawing pens with ivory handles. The shortest pen is marked: KENT DRAWING PEN (/) HIGH SPEED. Four Japanese characters are to the right of this mark. The back is marked: PAT'D. The middle pen is marked: MIDZUKAMI (/) BEST. The longest pen is unmarked.
label: Description
content: 11) 1-1/2" empty cylindrical ivory case for leads.
label: Description
content: 12) 3-3/8" metal bow compass missing both legs. One screw is marked: NCMIS COMPANY (/) MADE IN HOLLAND.
label: Description
content: The incomplete bow instrument is clearly not original to the set. Although the brass instruments fit poorly in their slots, a similar set of Kent drawing instruments sold on Ebay in June 2012. George Kent began manufacturing industrial instruments in London in 1838. The firm acquired the Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company in 1968 and was in turn acquired by Brown, Boveri, and Company of Switzerland in 1974.
label: Description
content: Reference: "George Kent," <i>Grace's Guide to British Industrial History</i>, http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/George_Kent.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Drafting, Engineering
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Drawing Instruments
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Elyssa and Michael Hillman
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.0420.01
label: catalog number
content: 1979.0420.01
label: accession number
content: 1979.0420
objectType: label: Object Name
content: drawing instruments, set of
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: german silver (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ivory (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cloth (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2.5 cm x 24 cm x 15.7 cm; 31/32 in x 9 7/16 in x 6 3/16 in