Volutor, instrument for drawing spirals
1857
Volutor, instrument for drawing spirals
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Buy this image as a print
BuyLicense this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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Buy this image as a print
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LicenseVolutor, instrument for drawing spirals one piece missing
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Volutor, instrument for drawing spirals one piece missing
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Volutor, instrument for drawing spirals one piece missing
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Volutor, instrument for drawing spirals, one piece missing, with wooden box, (B980, A204590), patented by Henry Johnson, and made by F. Hoffman, London, 1857
Although patented in 1857, this instrument is similar to those presented to King George III a century earlier. Turning the handle simultaneously produces both rotational and linear motion, the latter by means of the string that wraps around the conical pulley. The resulting curve is a ‘volute’ or Archimedean spiral, used for the capitals of ionic columns in classical architectural drawing. Johnson suggested several designs for voluters around this time.
Details
- Category:
- Mathematics
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- 1980-1175
- type:
- volutor and curve drawing instruments
- credit:
- On loan from the Wellcome Trust
