Suan-p'an, or Chinese Abacus
date: label: date made
content: ca 1925
notes: label: Description
content: This instrument sits in a rosewood box with rosewood cross piece. Fifteen parallel bamboo rods pass through the cross piece. Each rod has two wooden beads above and five below the cross piece. The beads are rounded, like those on other Chinese abaci. Brass corner pieces hold the box together.
label: Description
content: Frank A.Taylor, a staff member in the Department of Arts and Industries at the United States National Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, first lent the abacus to the National Collections in 1928 for use in a display of calculating instruments. He lent the object as an example of a modern Chinese abacus. He donated it in 1960.There is no mark by a maker.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Abacus
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Frank A. Taylor
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.309527
label: catalog number
content: 309527
label: accession number
content: 104133
objectType: label: Object Name
content: abacus
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rosewood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: bamboo (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2.7 cm x 37 cm x 17 cm; 1 1/16 in x 14 9/16 in x 6 11/16 in