Set of Drawing Instruments Sold by Hirshberg Art Company

Object Details

Hirshberg Art Company

Description: This wooden case is covered with black leather and lined with blue satin and velvet. A metal sliding pin serves as a bar lock. The lid is marked: 2072. A piece of tape on the lid is marked: No. 4 (/) L. H. S. Inside the lid is marked: HIRSHBERG ART CO. (/) Baltimore, Md. Between the lines of text is the firm's logo, a stag above a ribbon with the word "TRADEMARK."; The set contains a 6" compass with bendable legs and removable pencil point, pen point, divider point, and lengthening bar; 1-3/8" cylindrical ridged metal case for pencil leads; and 5" steel and wood drawing pen. The joint tightener is missing, and the lead case is empty.; Hirshberg Art Company began to sell art and drafting supplies in Baltimore around 1900. In 1910, it offered model number 2072 for $3.00. The store was still in business in 1922. The donor's father, John William Bernard Gilbert (1901–1973), acquired the instruments as a student at Laurel (Md.) High School. He entered college in the fall of 1919, so he purchased the set before then. His father, William E. Gilbert, owned a business in Baltimore.; References: Hirshberg Art Co., Catalogue and Price List of Artists' Materials (Baltimore, 1910), 234; The Educational Red Book: A Buyer's Guide for School Superintendents, Secretaries, and Board Members (Albany, N.Y.: C. F. Williams & Son, 1922), 40; accession file.
Location: Currently not on view

ca 1918

Physical Description: wood (overall material); german silver (overall material); steel (overall material); leather (overall material); fabric (overall material)
Measurements: overall: 2.2 cm x 18.3 cm x 8 cm; 7/8 in x 7 7/32 in x 3 5/32 in

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Mathematics; Science & Mathematics; Drawing Instruments

National Museum of American History

GUID (Link to Original Record): https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-1d82-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa