School Abacus
ca. 1920 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The abacus is an open rectangular frame mounted on a turned wooden column which ends in a tripod base of cast iron. The whole is painted a soft apple green. Within the frame are two horizontal iron rods, each fitted with ten painted wooden balls. The lines of balls are coloured, from the top yellow, blue, red, yellow, blue, red, grey, yellow blue, red. At the back of the frame, sliding in grooves top and bottom, is a slate, made of wood stained black. It covers half the abacus frame and there are stop buttons controlling its movement each side, one is missing.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Carved, turned and painted wood |
| Brief description | Metal and wood school abacus made in England about 1920 |
| Physical description | The abacus is an open rectangular frame mounted on a turned wooden column which ends in a tripod base of cast iron. The whole is painted a soft apple green. Within the frame are two horizontal iron rods, each fitted with ten painted wooden balls. The lines of balls are coloured, from the top yellow, blue, red, yellow, blue, red, grey, yellow blue, red. At the back of the frame, sliding in grooves top and bottom, is a slate, made of wood stained black. It covers half the abacus frame and there are stop buttons controlling its movement each side, one is missing. |
| Production type | Mass produced |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'EDUCATNL SUPPLY ASSN LD HOLBORN VIADUCT' (moulded into cast iron around the base of the post) |
| Object history | Used at Great Hallingbury Primary School, near Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. The vendor's mother, Mrs Sylvia Plumb, was a teacher at the school from the 1940s and remembered it still being used for a brief period at the beginning of her career. It was superseded by more up-to-date equipment in subsequent years. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | B.242-1997 |
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| Record created | April 18, 2000 |
| Record URL |
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