Analytical Balance
date: label: Date made
content: ca. 1886
label: date made
content: around 1900
name: label: maker
content: Christian Becker, Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: Analytical balance in a wood frame with glass sides and drawer in the base. The inscription on an ivory plate reads “CHRISTIAN BECKER / SUCCESSOR TO / BECKER & SONS & BECKER BROS. / NEW YORK / PAT’D. FEB 23 1886.”
label: Description
content: Christopher Becker (1803-1890) and his family came from Germany to the United States in the 1850s. After working in New York City, the firm established a factory in New Rochelle in 1875. The Christian Becker inscription was introduced after the death of Ernst Becker in 1892. The firm began trading as Christian Becker, Inc. after merging with the Torsion Balance Co. in 1914.
label: Description
content: Since this balance came from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, we suspect it was used by Harvey Wiley and/or his staff in the early years of the twentieth century.
label: Description
content: Ref: Ernst Becker, “Analytical Balance,” U.S. Patent 336,546 (Feb. 23, 1886).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Weights & Measures
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Chemistry
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Department Health, Education and Welfare
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: CH.314806
label: accession number
content: 210146
label: catalog number
content: 314806
objectType: label: Object Name
content: analytical balance
label: Object Type
content: Balances
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: case: 17 1/2 in x 15 1/2 in x 8 1/4 in; 44.45 cm x 39.37 cm x 20.9296 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 17 3/4 in x 16 5/8 in x 9 3/8 in; 45.085 cm x 42.2275 cm x 23.8125 cm