Pantograph in Case by Cary of London

This pantograph has four linked brass bars with rectangular cross section. The longer bars on the outside are 26 ½ inches long, the shorter bars on the inside 13 ¼ inches long. Two arms on the pantograph are marked for reducing and enlarging, both having with one scale ranging from ½ down to 1/12 and a second scale going from 11/12 down to 2/3. Once the wheels are screwed in, the pantograph slides along a table. This example has a tracer point but no pencil point and no weight. A mark on one arm reads: Cary London. It fits in a shaped wooden case.

Compare MA.317868, MA.327891, MA.334888, and 2005.0182.8.

According to Gloria Clifton, William Cary, his descendants and their associates in London sold instruments, including a pantograph, under the name Cary from 1789 until 1891.

Reference:

Gloria Clifton, Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers 1550-1851, Zwemmer, 1995, p. 51.

Currently not on view