3.2019416 Ball Spherometer

  1. catalogue number: 3.2019416;
  2. name of artifact: ball spherometer, 6-cm diameter X 6.2-cm height, three legs;
  3. date of production: ca. 1900-1950;
  4. materials of manufacture: brass, with some nickel plating(?), and black enamel(?) paint;
  5. maker: manufacturer “NO”, England or continental Europe?
  6. provenance: i) purchased on eBay by the museum Director, from a vendor in England;
  7. condition: restored by museum director;
  8. notes: the vendor postulated in his description: “I presume they [there were two for sale] are by Griffin and George as they are ex school” (from the eBay page for the item). The logo on the spherometer is unlike those found on Griffin & George instruments.
  9. comparanda: Cambridge MA, The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, DW0229, made by Robert Aglaé Cauchoix (1776-1845), Paris; Washington DC, Smithsonian Institution, 2001.0162.04, made by Cenco (Central Scientific Company), Chicago, ca. 1906-1950, student model; Springfield VT, The Hartness-Porter Museum of Amateur Telescope Making, Spherometer owned by R. W. Porter.
  10. literature:
    • Deborah Jean Warner, "Spherometer", in Instruments of Science: An Historical Encyclopedia, ed. Robert Bud & Deborah Jean Warner (New York–London: Taylor & Francis, 1998), pp. 569-570;
    • Allan Mills, "The Spherometer", eRittenhouse 24 (2012/2013), 1-6.
DTM_3.2019416
DTM_3.2019416
DTM_3.2019416
Type: 
Other
Description: 
Ball Spherometer
Exhibit Number: 
0003.2019416
Exhibit Name: 
Ball Spherometer
Production Circa: 
ca.
Production Year: 
1925
Exhibit Thumbnail: 
Ball Spherometer
Public Files: