Pocket Case of Drawing Instruments
date: label: date made
content: 18th century
notes: label: Description
content: This 18th-century pocket-sized wooden case is covered with black shagreen, leather made from the skin of a shark or rayfish. A previous owner signed paper lining the lid: James Ross bought (/) of John E. Hornor [?] (/) Rice & 1710 N[illegible] (/) #181[illegible]. Inside the lid is also handwritten: J. E. Hornor [?] (/) $15.50<sup><u>24</u></sup> (/) [illegible].
label: Description
content: Six instruments are currently inside the case: 1) a brass and steel pair of 6" dividers with one removable point; 2) a 1-1/8" round brass handle that does not fit anything in the case; 3) a brass and steel pen point for the dividers; 4) a 6-1/4" brass and steel drawing pen; 5) a brass crayon holder for the dividers; and 6) a 6" ebony parallel rule with scalloped brass hinges.
label: Description
content: When mathematician James McKenna gave this set of drawing instruments to the Smithsonian in 1934, he reported that an ancestor used it at Bedford, Pa., before 1800. A tool that was then in the case was scratched with the name John A. Stuart, suggesting that this surveyor in Bedford County who gave his name to a line laid out on Wills Mountain also owned the case at some point.
label: Description
content: References: Maya Hambly, <i>Drawing Instruments, 1580–1980</i> (London: Sotheby's, 1988), 185–190; Peggy A. Kidwell, "American Parallel Rules: Invention on the Fringes of Industry," <i>Rittenhouse </i> 10, no. 39 (1996): 90–96.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Drafting, Engineering
label: Subject
content: Surveying
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 James McKenna
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.310891
label: catalog number
content: 310891
label: accession number
content: 131549
objectType: label: Object Name
content: drawing instruments, set of
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 17.5 cm x 7.2 cm x 3.7 cm; 6 7/8 in x 2 27/32 in x 1 15/32 in