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Suan-p'an, or Chinese Abacus

National Museum of American History

Object Details

Description
This instrument has an open wooden frame held together with brass nails passing through metal bands. A wooden cross bar holds 13 columns of beads. Each column has two beads above the crossbar and five beads below. The beads are rounded, as on other Chinese abaci. There are no marks by a maker.
This form of abacus was sold in combination with a book entitled Abacus Arithmetic by the Australian-born metallurgist, Stanford University graduate, and later Stanford professor of metallurgy Welton J. Crook (1886-1976). Crook became fascinated with the abacus on a visit to Hong Kong, and resolved to publish a clear exposition on the instrument in English. His short book was published in 1958 by Pacific Books in Palo Alto, California, and sold tens of thousands of copies. For a copy of this paperback, see 1989.0709.03. The abacus and the related book were given to the Smithsonian by Washington, D. C., clockmaker Elton L. Howe in 1989.
On Crook, see: Stanford University Faculty Memorials, “Memorial Resolution Welton J. Crook (1886-1976)," digitized by the Stanford Historical Society .
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Elton L. Howe
1958
ID Number
1989.0709.01
catalog number
1989.0709.01
accession number
1989.0709
Object Name
abacus
Physical Description
wood (overall material)
brass (overall material)
Measurements
overall: 2 cm x 28.6 cm x 14 cm; 25/32 in x 11 1/4 in x 5 1/2 in
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Abacus
Science & Mathematics
National Museum of American History
Subject
Mathematics
Record ID
nmah_690538
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-0cca-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

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CHINESE ABACUS - FRONT VIEW
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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