Object Details
maker
Charvoz
Description
This metal instrument has a handle with vertical ridges above a ring. Unlike almost all of the other bow compasses in the collection, the bow screw has tips on each end. A thumb screw on the leg with the pencil point allows for fine adjustments of the angle at which the instrument is set. Screws near the points and on the front and back of the instrument adjust the length of the needle and pencil points. The top of the leg with the pencil point is marked: CHARVOZ (/) GERMANY.
A clear and blue plastic case is marked with the Charvoz logo and charvoz (/) S - 801. The flap closes in the back and is marked: WESTERN–GERMANY. Inside the case is a clear plastic cylinder holding two replacement pencil leads and a second needle point, allowing the compass to be used as a divider. The bottom of the cylinder is marked: MADE IN GERMANY. A pen point is wrapped in brown paper. The screw on the pen point is marked: GERMANY.
Charvoz, not to be confused with Charvoz-Roos, the short-lived slide rule manufacturer in New Jersey, made sets of drawing instruments in West Germany in the second half of the 20th century.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Norma P. Wieler
date made
mid 20th century
ID Number
1998.0032.11
catalog number
1998.0032.11
accession number
1998.0032
Object Name
bow compass
drawing compass and divider
bow compass and divider
Physical Description
graphite (overall material)
metal (overall material)
plastic (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 1 cm x 4 cm x 14 cm; 13/32 in x 1 9/16 in x 5 1/2 in
place made
Germany
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_694134