Description: Hand wrought iron calipers or dividers with a four part hinge, tapered and pointed legs. When closed it is a near heart shaped opening under the hinge. Likely mid- 18th century, American or English.

History: If you have used your thumb and forefinger to compare a distance between two points on a map with the mileage scale in the map's legend box, then you have used your body as a pair of dividers. This instrument typically has two legs, hinged at one end and with sharp points at the other end. It can be used by itself or in combination with a calculating instrument, such as a sector. Most Americans probably last held a drawing compass in elementary school. It also usually has two legs, one with a sharp point for holding the instrument in place and one with a pen or pencil point for tracing out a circle. Some compasses have interchangeable points, so that they can also function as dividers. Both types of objects were widely sold individually or in sets of drawing instruments from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Instrument makers, such as Nicolas Bion in the 18th century and William Ford Stanley in the 19th century, provided detailed descriptions of the different types of dividers and compasses suitable for different drawing tasks. By the 20th century, manufacturers and retailers devoted considerable space in their catalogs to these instruments.

Provenance: N/A

Dimensions: Weight (Pounds & Ounces) = 0.23 | Height(in) = 7 | Width(in) = 1.75 | Depth(in) = 0.5

Size of Artwork(in): 7 x 1.75 x .5"

Artist Name: Unknown

Medium: Iron

Circa: C. 1750

Very tight hinge, good condition.