Accession No

6371

Brief Description

proportional dividers in black case, by Keuffel and Esser Company, Germany, c. 1867-1982

Origin

Germany

Maker

Keuffel and Esser Company

Class

drawing; cartography; earth sciences

Earliest Date

1867

Latest Date

1982

Inscription Date

Material

metal; cloth (baise); plastic (leatherette); paint

Dimensions

Box: height 27 mm; width 278 mm; depth 47 mm.

Special Collection

Tjeerd Van Andel collection

Provenance

Donated by an individual from the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, 16/07/2009.

Inscription

‘K+E GERMANY PARAGON’
(engraved on front of object)

‘vA.’
(scratched onto back of object)

38 (inscription on inside surface of arm with ‘K+E’ inscription on its top side)

‘K+E’
(on top of box)

Description Notes

Proportional dividers in black case; Keuffel & Esser Co.; c. 1867 - 1982

Two arms with a short and longer needle at either end; The two arms are joined on a pivot that allows the arms to swing out from each other; The pivot has a rack-and-gear movement secured by a thumb bolt; It can be moved along the inside of the arms along the rack; The pivot has a second bolt to move it along the track; One arm is graduated with a scale from ten to one hundred and ten with increments of one unit length; A sliding vernier is linked to the graduated arm.

The black case is covered in a shiny black leatherette coating and is secured by two silver metal clasps; On the top side of the case is the inscription ‘K+E’ and on the underside a metal plate in pinned on with a ‘Table of Settings’ with various ratios and conversion factors; The case is lined with green baise.

Condition: good; complete.

References

Events