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Dietzgen 736B Bow Compass with Pencil Point

American History Museum

Bow Pencil
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Object Details

maker

Eugene Dietzgen Company

Description

This steel and German silver instrument has a needle point on one leg and a holder for a pencil lead on the other. The handle has vertical ridges above a single line of raised metal dots. The width of the compass is adjusted with a pin through the legs and a wheel around the pin between the legs. Additional thumbscrews allow adjusting of the needle and pencil points. The instrument appears to be a Federal Bow Pencil, model number 736B, advertised in 1926 by the Eugene Dietzgen Company of Chicago.
Reference: Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 12th ed. (Chicago, 1926), 60, 74.

Location

Currently not on view

Credit Line

Gift of William J. Ellenberger

date made

ca 1926

ID Number

1981.0933.21

accession number

1981.0933

catalog number

1981.0933.21

Object Name

bow pencil
compass, drawing

Other Terms

bow pencil; Steelspring

Physical Description

lead (overall material)
german silver (overall material)
steel (overall material)

Measurements

overall: 9.3 cm x 2 cm x 1.5 cm; 3 21/32 in x 25/32 in x 19/32 in

place made

United States: Illinois, Chicago

See more items in

Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Dividers and Compasses

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Subject

Mathematics
Drawing Instruments

Metadata Usage

CC0

Link to Original Record

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-37d8-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record ID

nmah_904324

Discover More

Light wooden blackboard compass. One end has a rubber tip, and the other has a chalk tip.

Compasses

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