Accession No

6005

Brief Description

wooden mathematical triangle by W&S Jones; English; late 18th century

Origin

135 Holborn; London; England

Maker

W & S Jones

Class

mathematics

Earliest Date

1792

Latest Date

1800

Inscription Date

Material

wood (boxwood)

Dimensions

length 230mm; width 60mm; depth 4 mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Tesseract, Box 151, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York 10706, U.S.A., on 01/09/2004. From Catalogue 77, Summer 2004.

Inscription

“T. KEITH:.
Teacher.of.the.Mathematics:.
Heddon.Court.Swallow.Street
.:LONDON:.’ (on front face, inside oval shaped marks)

‘W&S JONES
Makers No 135. Holborn.
.:LONDON:.’ (on front face, inside oval shaped marks)

‘P 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
R.127.27*153.11*180*207.46*235.18*263.14*291.28*319.39*347.74
EF.FF.as107.114.or.1.1.065*Toise 6FF*Fath 6 EF
EF.RF.as9715.10000 * RF.FF as 1033.1068 * RR.12 RF’ (on reverse side)

Description Notes

Wooden mathematical triangle by W&S Jones, English, late 18th century. An example of Thomas Keith’s triangle, which was used with a straight rule.

Boxwood triangle with straight single and double-bevelled edges. Signed on front face. 14 degree acute angle, with inch scale divided in tenths along the opposite side. Divisions marked ‘P, L, C, G’ along the adjacent side. Orthogonal sides have a length ratio of 4:1. Reverse side has a computational table (values of R versus integral values of P from 4 to 12, “Toise 6FF” etc.)

Condition good; small chip to the tip.

References

Events

Description
These are mathematical triangles used in maths and geometry. They are made of wood and these particular examples date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, although even now maths sets contain instruments very similar to these. One example (Wh.6007) has construction details for the maker with materials and dimensions noted. Another (Wh.6005) has the maker W&S Jones and the designer Thomas Keith's names printed on the front and this dates it to between 1792 and 1800.

FM:46471