Accession No

0614

Brief Description

hinged rule, silver, tentatively attributed to Michael Butterfield, French, c. 1700

Origin

France; Paris [based on attributed maker]

Maker

Butterfield, Michael [tentative attribution]

Class

drawing;

Earliest Date

1700

Latest Date

1700

Inscription Date

Material

metal (silver, brass)

Dimensions

length closed 86mm; breadth 15mm; length extended 163mm

Special Collection

Robert Whipple collection

Provenance

Purchased by Robert Stewart Whipple from Antique Art Galleries, Grafton Street, London, England, on 31/05/1930.

Inscription

Description Notes

Silver rule; engraved hinge with pierced brass plate. Castle engraved within shield, half on each limb. Recto divided 10 - 0 - 90 numbered by 10 ‘PARTYES’ and 10 - 0 numbered by 10 subdivided to 1 ‘EGALLES’.

Verso divided [0] - 6 numbered by 1; 0 - 1 divided into 12 ‘LES POULCES’ and 5 - 6 divided into 12 ‘LES LIGNES’, subdivided to 1/2.

Along edge, scale of inches divided [0] - 6

References

Events

Description
Scale Rule
A straight rule with a scale engraved along the length is the simplest instrument for making linear measurements, and has been used since antiquity. However, scale rules were not commonly used for making scale drawings until around 1550 in Northern Europe. Anthropomorphic dimensions such as the foot were commonly used for the scale.

Scale rules can be straight or folding and often have even scales on one side and diagonal scales on the other, which enable the user to divide any measurement into 100 parts. They were often decorated by the maker, demonstrating artistic as well as mathematical skills (although they became more purely functional from mid 18th century). They were usually made of brass, silver, ivory or boxwood.

FM:43075