Object Details
Description
This 5" steel knife blade probably has a celluloid (rather than an ivory) handle. It was received with a sizable collection of mathematical drawing instruments, but makers of drawing instruments did not typically advertise knives in their catalogs. This object may have been useful for sharpening pen quills and pencils. Draftsmen also used knives as erasers, but the blade on this example is shaped differently from the blades on the "steel erasers" depicted in Keuffel & Esser and Dietzgen catalogs. Compare to the knife in 1990.0690.01.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Ruth A. Ming
date made
early 20th century
ID Number
1978.2110.13
accession number
1978.2110
catalog number
336739
Object Name
pen knife
Physical Description
steel (overall material)
plastic (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 12.5 cm x 1.2 cm x 1.2 cm; 4 29/32 in x 15/32 in x 15/32 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
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_904294