Description:
Model of a steam engine, with a lever at the top, a swinging arm which drives the wheel, which in turn drives the shaft. Painted green, gold, and red.

Label Text:
The Scottish engineer and chemist James Watt (1736–1819) designed a new form of steam engine in 1781. Watt endeavored to make the machines more efficient and useful for broader applications. This model played a key role in the harnessing and transmission of energy that powered the Industrial Revolution. His work was so significant that the unit of power—the watt—was named after him. This particular object was created much later as a teaching tool and was likely used in classes at Mount Holyoke to illustrate how the steam engine functioned through moving parts in cross section.

-Aaron Miller, Associate Curator of Visual and Material Culture, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum (Sept. 2017)

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=MH+SK+2006.2058.INV

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.

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