Set of Drawing Instruments Sold by 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.

Date Made: ca 1918

Maker: Hirshberg Art Company

Location: Currently not on view

Subject: MathematicsDrafting, Engineering

Subject:

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

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Gift of William E. Gilbert

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 1995.0125.01Accession Number: 1995.0125Catalog Number: 1995.0125.01

Object Name: drawing instruments, set of

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

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-1d82-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_690059

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