Object Details
Description
This 18th-century pocket-sized wooden case is covered with black shagreen, leather made from the skin of a shark or rayfish. A previous owner signed paper lining the lid: James Ross bought (/) of John E. Hornor [?] (/) Rice & 1710 N[illegible] (/) #181[illegible]. Inside the lid is also handwritten: J. E. Hornor [?] (/) $15.5024 (/) [illegible].
Six instruments are currently inside the case: 1) a brass and steel pair of 6" dividers with one removable point; 2) a 1-1/8" round brass handle that does not fit anything in the case; 3) a brass and steel pen point for the dividers; 4) a 6-1/4" brass and steel drawing pen; 5) a brass crayon holder for the dividers; and 6) a 6" ebony parallel rule with scalloped brass hinges.
When mathematician James McKenna gave this set of drawing instruments to the Smithsonian in 1934, he reported that an ancestor used it at Bedford, Pa., before 1800. A tool that was then in the case was scratched with the name John A. Stuart, suggesting that this surveyor in Bedford County who gave his name to a line laid out on Wills Mountain also owned the case at some point.
References: Maya Hambly, Drawing Instruments, 1580–1980 (London: Sotheby's, 1988), 185–190; Peggy A. Kidwell, "American Parallel Rules: Invention on the Fringes of Industry," Rittenhouse 10, no. 39 (1996): 90–96.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of James McKenna
date made
18th century
ID Number
MA.310891
catalog number
310891
accession number
131549
Object Name
drawing instruments, set of
Physical Description
brass (overall material)
steel (overall material)
paper (overall material)
wood (overall material)
leather (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 17.5 cm x 7.2 cm x 3.7 cm; 6 7/8 in x 2 27/32 in x 1 15/32 in
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Drawing Instruments
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Drafting, Engineering
Surveying
Link to Original Record
Record ID
nmah_1214885