Object Details
Description
This 5-1/16" steel, German silver, and ivory drawing pen has no identifying marks. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many makers of mathematical instruments in the United States and Europe sold drawing pens with ivory handles to draftsmen and other people who made engineering and architectural drawings. For instance, Keuffel & Esser and Dietzgen advertised similar pens for $1.80. The screw allowed users to adjust the width of the point and thus the width of a line made by dipping the pen in ink and then writing on paper.
References: Catalog of Eugene Dietzgen Co., 7th ed. (Chicago, 1904), 56; Catalogue of Keuffel & Esser Co., 33rd ed. (New York, 1909), 72.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Ruth A. Ming
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
1978.2110.08
accession number
1978.2110
catalog number
336734
Object Name
pen
Physical Description
steel (overall material)
ivory (overall material)
german silver (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 1 cm x 12.8 cm x 1 cm; 13/32 in x 5 1/32 in x 13/32 in
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Pens and Pencils
Science & Mathematics
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Drawing Instruments
Drafting, Engineering
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_904291