Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Catalog Data

Maker:
Hirshberg Art Company  Search this
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
Object Name:
drawing instruments, set of
Date made:
ca 1918
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., <i>Catalogue and Price List of Artists' Materials</i> (Baltimore, 1910), 234; <i>The Educational Red Book: A Buyer's Guide for School Superintendents, Secretaries, and Board Members</i> (Albany, N.Y.: C. F. Williams & Son, 1922), 40; accession file.
Location:
Currently not on view
Subject:
Mathematics  Search this
Drafting, Engineering  Search this
Credit Line:
Gift of William E. Gilbert
ID Number:
1995.0125.01
Accession number:
1995.0125
Catalog number:
1995.0125.01
See more items in:
Medicine and Science: Mathematics
Science & Mathematics
Drawing Instruments
Data Source:
National Museum of American History
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-1d82-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:nmah_690059