tripod for surveyor's level
Date: circa 1765
Inventory Number: 0068b
Classification: Tripod
Subject:
Attributed to: Benjamin Martin (1704 - 1782)
User: John Winthrop (1714 - 1779)
User: Samuel Williams (1743 - 1817)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
City of Use:
Dimensions:
164.5 x 145 cm (64 3/4 x 57 1/16 in.)
Bibliography:
The Apparatus of Science at Harvard, 1765-1800
Description:
Mahogany tripod with ball-and-socket joint, parallel plates, and four leveling screws.
In Collection(s)
Signedunsigned
FunctionThis tripod was used to support Benjamin Martin's surveyor's level when work was done in the field.
Historical AttributesIn a shipment of apparatus sent from London in August 1765 Harvard acquired "A Siphon Spirit Level Compleat with: Mahogany Leggs & Parallel Plates in 2 Wainscott Boxes" made by Benjamin Martin and worth £8.18.6. The surveyor's level to which this tripod belongs was not only used to teach Harvard students surveying, but was most likely loaned to the Massachusetts militia during the American Revolution in order to survey the line between its encampment and the British position. If so, it was eventually returned to the College and there inventoried with other equipment after John Winthrop's death in 1779.
Published ReferencesDavid P. Wheatland, The Apparatus of Science at Harvard, 1765-1800 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968), 77-78.