Set of Drawing Instruments Sold by Hirshberg Art Company
Set of Drawing Instruments Sold by Hirshberg Art Company
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Usage conditions apply
- 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
- Object Name
- drawing instruments, set of
- date made
- ca 1918
- maker
- Hirshberg Art Company
- 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
- ID Number
- 1995.0125.01
- accession number
- 1995.0125
- catalog number
- 1995.0125.01
- Credit Line
- Gift of William E. Gilbert
- subject
- Mathematics
- Drafting, Engineering
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Mathematics
- Science & Mathematics
- Drawing Instruments
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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