French-Style Sector Signed by Pierre Le Maire
date: label: date made
content: ca 1750
name: label: maker
content: Le Maire, Pierre
notes: label: Description
content: The arms of this brass instrument have straight edges, while the hinge is decorated with a floral design. The sector is marked: P. Le Maire (/) AParis. One side has double scales of chords, running from 10 to 180; of solids, running from 1 to 60; and for the specific weights of four metals, marked with their symbols. The outer edge has a scale running from 1/4 to 60 and labeled Diamettres [<i>sic</i>] et Poids des Boulets (for the diameter and weight of iron shot).
label: Description
content: The other side has double scales for equal parts, running from 10 to 200; for architectural drawings, running from 1 to 60; and for the lengths of the sides of inscribed regular polygons, from 12 sides to four sides. The outer edge has a scale that runs from 1/4 to 60 and is labeled Calibres des Pieces (for the size of iron shot, given the diameter of the barrel and the weight of the shot). This arrangement of scales is standard for sectors manufactured in France.
label: Description
content: Pierre Le Maire (1717–1785) took over his father Jacques's workshop in the late 1730s. Large numbers of his sundials, mathematical instruments, and lodestones survive. He and his workers initially signed instruments with "le Fils," so this example was probably made after 1750. The donor received this sector from a distant relative, Gunther Mathies, who emigrated from Germany in the early 20th century and worked for the Thomaston Clock Company in Connecticut.
label: Description
content: Reference: Adler Planetarium, <i>Webster Signature Database</i>, http://historydb.adlerplanetarium.org/signatures/.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: France: Île-de-France, Paris
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Sectors
label: Subject
content: Rule, Calculating
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Sectors
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content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of William H. Koch
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1984.1070.02
label: accession number
content: 1984.1070
label: catalog number
content: 1984.1070.02
objectType: label: Object Name
content: sector
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: .3 cm x 17.5 cm x 3.1 cm; 1/8 in x 6 7/8 in x 1 7/32 in