Object Details
- Description
- This steel 45°-45°-90° triangle is 10" tall. A hole near one vertex is for hanging. The instrument is marked: D. B. & S. Prov. R. I. (/) E. D. LEAVITT. The pattern of tarnish marks on the instrument suggests that the user stacked other triangles, including 1977.0460.10, on top of this triangle for making engineering drawings and for storage.
- D. B. & S. is the mark for Darling, Brown & Sharpe of Providence, R.I. Samuel Darling, a machinist who invented numerous drafting instruments, partnered with Joseph R. Brown and Lucian Sharpe between 1866 and 1892. For more on the history of Darling, Brown & Sharpe, see 1977.0460.01, 1977.0460.05, and 1977.0460.06. Company catalogs published in 1868 and 1887 depict only open triangles, not solid ones.
- Erasmus Darwin Leavitt Jr. (1836–1916), the renowned American mechanical engineer and designer of steam engines, owned this triangle. It was donated to the Smithsonian by his granddaughter.
- References: Kenneth L. Cope, intro., A Brown & Sharpe Catalogue Collection, 1868 to 1899 (Mendham, N.J.: The Astragal Press, 1997); Henry Dexter Sharpe, A Measure of Perfection: The History of Brown & Sharpe (North Kingston, R.I.: Brown & Sharpe, 1949), http://www.roseantiquetools.com/id44.html.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- maker
- Darling, Brown and Sharpe
- date made
- 1866-1892
- Credit Line
- Gift of Margaret van D. Rice
- Physical Description
- steel (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 25.5 cm x 25.5 cm x .2 cm; 10 1/32 in x 10 1/32 in x 3/32 in
- Object Name
- triangle
