Pocket Case of Drawing Instruments
date: label: date made
content: mid 18th century
name: label: maker
content: Butterfield, Michael
notes: label: Description
content: This 18th-century pocket-sized wooden case is covered with black fish skin. It currently holds ten drawing instruments:
label: Description
content: 1) A 4" brass semicircular protractor, divided to single degrees and numbered by tens in both directions from 10 to 180. It is marked: Butterfield AParis.
label: Description
content: 2) A 6-3/4" brass folding combination set square and ruler. The outer edges of the legs have scales for French inches, numbered by ones from 1 to 6. The inner edges are divided to ten degrees and numbered from 5 to 110. One leg is marked: Demi Pied de Roi [half a king's foot] (/) Butterfield AParis. This leg has a slit and pinhole for hanging a plumb line and a rounded cut-out. The other leg is marked: 6 pouces du vin [6 inches of wine].
label: Description
content: 3) A 6-3/4" brass French-style sector with straight edges. One side has double scales of equal parts, running from 10 to 200 (misnumbered as 120); of planes (unlabeled), running from 10 to 60; and for inscribed regular polygons, from 12 sides to 3 sides. The outer edge of one leg has an unlabeled scale for the size of artillery shot, running from 4 to 24.
label: Description
content: The other side has double scales of chords, running from 10 to 180; of solids, running from 5 to 60; and for the specific weights of five metals. The outer edge of one leg has an unlabeled scale for the weight of artillery shot, running from 4 to 24. This side is marked: Butterfield (/) AParis. Compare to MA.321676, MA.321677, and 1985.0580.04.
label: Description
content: 4) A 4-1/2" brass dotter, for marking a paper so that the lines of the drawing could be filled in later.
label: Description
content: 5) A second 6-3/4" brass folding combination set square and ruler. The outer edge of one leg has a scale for French inches, numbered by ones from 1 to 6, and a slot, pinhole, and rectangular cutout for a plumb line. This leg is marked: Langlois aux Galleries du Louvre AParis. The other leg has a plotting scale numbered by hundreds from 100 to 900, with a diagonal scale at the left end.
label: Description
content: 6) A pair of 4-3/4" brass and steel dividers.
label: Description
content: 7) A pair of 4" brass and steel dividers with a removable point.
label: Description
content: 8) A brass dotter attachment that would fit the longer dividers if one point could be removed.
label: Description
content: 9) A pencil point that nearly fits the smaller dividers.
label: Description
content: 10) A brass and steel pen point that fits the smaller dividers.
label: Description
content: As was typical for sets of drawing instruments, there is not a one-to-one correspondence between the slots in the case and the instruments stored in them. Draftsmen often purchased cases and drawing instruments separately, buying only what they actually used. Over time, instruments were also lost or replaced.
label: Description
content: Michael Butterfield (1635–1724) was an English instrument maker who worked in France from around 1677 until his death. He was best known for his distinctive sundials. Claude Langlois (d. 1756) and his successors operated a workshop in Paris from 1730 to 1780. The Smithsonian acquired this object in 1959. Henry Russell Wray, the previous owner, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and was a businessman in Colorado Springs, Colo., in the early 20th century.
label: Description
content: References: Maya Hambly, <i>Drawing Instruments, 1580–1980</i> (London: Sotheby's Publications, 1988), 24, 28, 134–135; 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: Drafting, Engineering
label: Subject
content: Surveying
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Drawing Instruments
creditLine: label: Credit Line
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dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.316914
label: accession number
content: 228694
label: catalog number
content: 316914
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: leather (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2.7 cm x 8 cm x 9.5 cm; 1 1/16 in x 3 5/32 in x 3 3/4 in