Description:
Ring sizing tool or gauge dated 1769, which was owned by silversmith Caleb Beal (c. 1746-1801) of Boston, Massachusetts. The rectangular brass plaque is engraved with the letters "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ" in roman or block letters, and "Caleb Beal 1769" on one side, and "ABCDEFGHIKL" in script on the opposite side. The ring sizing guage is made out of brass with copper graduated rings and a silver? circle or band that holds the whole thing together (the ring sizer may not have started out originally with these parts). There are some letters and numbers on the graduated rings, which are difficult to determine. Caleb Beal's origins can not be traced with certainty. He may have been born in Hingham, Massachusetts, where many residents named Beal lived and where he owned land. Beal probably began his apprenticeship in 1760 and completed it about 1767, possibly training with Benjamin Loring of Hull and Boston. Beal is listed as a goldsmith, silversmith, and jeweler in nine real estate transactions from 1781 to 1792 although only about three dozen pieces of silver are known to survive from his hand - mostly spoons. Beal did have a probate inventory of his shop which listed "Sundry tools in the Goldsmiths line" at 35 pounds. His probate listed rings, sleeve buttons, buckles, coral and gold beads, ring and watch chains, and ear drops (earrings). Perhaps this ring gauge - made early in his jeweler career - was a part of his sundry tools.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2008.11 |
