Object Details
Description
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.
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.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Frank A. Taylor
date made
ca 1925
ID Number
MA.309527
catalog number
309527
accession number
104133
Object Name
abacus
Physical Description
brass (overall material)
rosewood (overall material)
bamboo (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 2.7 cm x 37 cm x 17 cm; 1 1/16 in x 14 9/16 in x 6 11/16 in
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Abacus
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_690528