Object Details
maker
Keuffel & Esser Co.
Description
This metal drawing instrument is heavily corroded. It has a cylindrical handle, grooves that allow the user to open the legs just a small amount, a thumbscrew adjusting the hairspring in the leg with the pencil point, and screws for adjusting the needle and pencil points. The legs are jointed, but they are too rusted to bend. The inside of the leg with the pencil point is marked near the top: KEUFFEL & ESSER N.Y.
This instrument is advertised as model number 205 in K&E's 1881 catalog. It does not appear in the 1876 or 1892 catalogs. Gunther Mathies, a relative of the donor, emigrated from Germany in the early 20th century and worked for the Thomaston (Conn.) Clock Company. He also did photography, drafting, and surveying in the area during the Depression, and he may have acquired this object in the course of those endeavors.
References: Michael Scott-Scott, Drawing Instruments (Aylesbury, England: Shire Publications Ltd., 1986), 5–6; Catalogue and Price-List of Keuffel & Esser Co., 9th ed. (New York, 1881); accession file.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of W. H. Koch
date made
1876-1892
ID Number
1984.1070.03
accession number
1984.1070
catalog number
1984.1070.03
Object Name
compass
Physical Description
german silver (overall material)
steel (overall material)
brass (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 1.2 cm x 15.5 cm x 1.6 cm; 15/32 in x 6 3/32 in x 5/8 in
place made
United States: New York, New York City
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_904361