case: 42 cm x 50.5 cm x 25.5 cm; 16 9/16 in x 19 7/8 in x 10 1/16 in
each dish: 2 cm; x 13/16 in
Object Name:
Assay Balance
Object Type:
Balances
Place made:
United States: Colorado, Territory of, Denver
Date made:
early twentieth century
Description:
Assay (or button) balance in a wooden frame with glass sides and two drawers in the base. The beam is aluminum, and 6 inches long. The inscription on the ivory scale reads “WM AINSWORTH & SONS DENVER COLO. U.S.A.”
William Ainsworth (1850-1917) was born in England, came to the United States as a small child, and grew up in the Mid-West. He moved to Central City, Colorado, in the mid-1870s, and earned his living repairing watches and other small instruments. He made his first balance in 1879, and moved to Denver in 1880. The firm became William Ainsworth & Sons in 1899, and soon claimed to be “the largest manufacturers of fine balances in the world.” It later became Denver Instrument, and was acquired by Sartorius in 1999.
Ref: Henry Heil, <i>Illustrated Catalogue and Price-List of Chemical Apparatus</i> (St. Louis, 1903), pp. 102-105.
