Object Details
- Description
- These brass and steel dividers are joined by a ball-shaped hinge. The steel pointed tips of each leg are approximately 3-1/2" long. The brass portions continue for nearly another 9". A brass arc, or wing, with a circumference of approximately 8-1/2", joins the legs. A butterfly screw allows the arc to be removed. A wing nut tightens the adjustable leg so that the dividers are set in position. On the outsides of the legs, below the two screws, the dividers are stamped with wheels that have six spokes and a small circle at the center. According to a note in the accession file, this mark represents the heraldic symbol of the city of Osnabrück, Germany.
- Dividers are alternatively called (non-drawing) compasses, or Zirkel in German. Draftsmen used them to measure distances and to create circles. This pair was probably manufactured in the 18th century.
- Reference: Maya Hambly, Drawing Instruments: 1580–1980 (London: Sotheby's Publications, 1988), 69–79.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- 1700s
- ID Number
- MA.322756
- accession number
- 248674
- catalog number
- 322756
- Object Name
- dividers
- Physical Description
- brass (overall material)
- steel (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 2 cm x 33 cm x 11.5 cm; 13/16 in x 13 in x 4 1/2 in
- place made
- Germany: Lower Saxony, Osnabrück
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Time and Navigation
- Science & Mathematics
- Dividers and Compasses
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Mathematics
- Dividers
- Record ID
- nmah_904335
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a7-3936-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
