Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - Plumb and Level Indicator

Preview image of work. metal indicator parts on printed paper in wood frame, Plumb and Level Indicator 31466

2018.24

Recommend keywords

Help us make our collections more accessible by providing keywords to describe this artwork. The BCMA uses the Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus to provide consistent keywords. Enter a keyword in the field below and you will be prompted with a list of possible matching AAT preferred terms.

Plumb and Level Indicator

Export record as: Plain text | JSON | CDWA-Lite | VRA Core 4

Artist

Rufus Porter (West Boxford, MA, 5/1/1792 - 8/13/1884, West Haven, Connecticut)

Title

Plumb and Level Indicator

Creation Date

ca. 1846

Century

mid-19th century

Dimensions

10 x 10 x 2 in. (25 x 25 x 5 cm)

Object Type

implement/tool

Creation Place

North America, United States, New York

Medium and Support

metal indicator parts on printed paper in wood frame

Credit Line

Gift In Memory of Robert Lindsay Thayer

Copyright

Public Domain

Accession Number

2018.24

Porter’s Plumb and Level Indicator demonstrates his myriad talents. He designed the mechanical device to communicate useful information efficiently, adorned it with a representation of masons against a watery landscape, and advertised it in Scientific American, the journal he had founded one year earlier. “Every carpenter, mason, brick-layer, and mill-wright,” the advertisement read, “will readily appreciate the utility of a more ready method of ascertaining the position of grounds, walls, and timbers.” As useful as Porter’s level may have been, it testifies more powerfully to his talent as a graphic designer. He fit decorative filigree, numbers, measurements, letters, and a visual representation of balance into the small frame.

Additional Media

obverse-detail