Wing Dividers
date: label: date made
content: 1700s
notes: label: Description
content: These brass and steel dividers are joined by a ball-shaped hinge. The steel pointed tips of each leg are approximately 3-1/2" long. The brass portions continue for nearly another 9". A brass arc, or wing, with a circumference of approximately 8-1/2", joins the legs. A butterfly screw allows the arc to be removed. A wing nut tightens the adjustable leg so that the dividers are set in position. On the outsides of the legs, below the two screws, the dividers are stamped with wheels that have six spokes and a small circle at the center. According to a note in the accession file, this mark represents the heraldic symbol of the city of Osnabrück, Germany.
label: Description
content: Dividers are alternatively called (non-drawing) compasses, or <i>Zirkel</i> in German. Draftsmen used them to measure distances and to create circles. This pair was probably manufactured in the 18th century.
label: Description
content: Reference: Maya Hambly, <i>Drawing Instruments: 1580–1980</i> (London: Sotheby's Publications, 1988), 69–79.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Germany: Lower Saxony, Osnabrück
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Dividers
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Time and Navigation
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Dividers and Compasses
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.322756
label: accession number
content: 248674
label: catalog number
content: 322756
objectType: label: Object Name
content: dividers
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 cm x 33 cm x 11.5 cm; 13/16 in x 13 in x 4 1/2 in