This white plaster model has a round base and a vertical spiral of eight turns. It is one of a series copied from originals at the technical high school in Munich, under the direction of Alexander Brill. A paper tag on the model reads: 137. Another paper tag reads: Schraubenfl. auf d. Ellips. abwickelbar. (/) Verl. v. L. Brill. 8. Ser. Nr. XXVIa.
The model represents the surface of a screw on which a rotational ellipsoid (1985.098 - Brill #138) can be unwound. It follows ideas of E. Bour. The series was first published by Ludwig Brill in 1882.
This example of the model was exhibited at the German Educational Exhibit at the Columbian Exposition, a World’s Fair held in Chicago in 1893. It there was purchased by Wesleyan University in Connecticut, and subsequently was donated to the Smithsonian.
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