Description:
Brass scales with ten weights, which descended in in the Williams family of Deerfield according to the donor. Smaller, portable scales, which were either held in the hand for weighing or hung from a metal stand, used the Roman system of the scruple, drachm, grain. These beam scales were used to measure the overall quantity of metal such as coins brought in by a client or provided by the silversmith for fashioning an object; measure the mixture of metals for solder in deterimining the amount of metal needed for casting; and calculate the client's cost by weight of finished piece. Brass weights have been used tradtionally since brass can be milled to exact weights. These scales were also used by apotheicaries and physicians for weighing and compounding drugs and calculating fees. Two spun and hammered brass (copper alloy) pans or weighing bowls are each suspended from an iron bar and an S-hook by three thin strips of tanned hide. The hide is looped through roughly punched holes in the bowls just below the rim and wrapped with a spun fiber thread. Thread is used at the upper end of the hide strip to bind the hide to the woven cord; one of the cords has a piece of lead wrapped around it. The bar pivots up and down in one vertical plane, and is held with a hanging element and S-hook attached to a strip of hide.
Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Brass; Leather Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+60.292 |
