Object Details
Description
This steel drawing compass has a hexagonal brass handle. The width of the instrument is adjusted with a small brass nut on the outside of the leg with the needle point. A second screw adjusts the width of the pen point. This object resembles the bow compasses made by Stanley around 1860 that are depicted in Michael Scott Scott, Drawing Instruments (Haverfordwest, UK: Shire Publications Ltd., 1986), 10.
Reference: J. F. Heather, Mathematical Instruments: Their Construction, Adjustment, Testing, and Use, rev. ed. (London: Crosby Lockwood and Co., 1870), i:15–16.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Ruth A. Ming
date made
ca 1860
ID Number
1978.2110.11
catalog number
1978.2110.11
accession number
1978.2110
catalog number
336737
Object Name
bow pen
compass, drawing
pen, bow
Physical Description
steel (overall material)
brass (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 7.5 cm x 2 cm x .8 cm; 2 15/16 in x 25/32 in x 5/16 in
place made
United Kingdom: England, London
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Dividers and Compasses
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Drawing Instruments
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1122589