Home
The Dominy Family
- Dominy Homestead & Shops
East Hampton
Tools of the Trade
- Woodworking Tools
- Clockmaking Tools
Products of the Shops
- Furniture
- Clocks
- Carpentry
- Millwrights
- Wheelwrights
- Farming
The Shops at Winterthur
- Acknowledgements
- Resources

Home
The Dominy Family
- Dominy Homestead & Shops
East Hampton
Tools of the Trade
- Woodworking Tools
- Clockmaking Tools
Products of the Shops
- Furniture
- Clocks
- Carpentry
- Millwrights
- Wheelwrights
- Farming
The Shops at Winterthur
- Acknowledgements
- Resources

Calipers & Dividers

Calipers and dividers were essential tools for such tasks as measuring the inner and outer dimensions of cylinders and drawing accurate circles. The short levers attached with pivot joints to the arms of the small brass calipers aided in placing toothed wheels at right angles onto supporting arbors. The adjustable spring dividers were useful for scribing circles of varying diameters and transferring measurements.

Set of inside/outside calipers, Nathaniel Dominy IV (maker or purchaser), 1760-1812. Iron; Steel. 3.8" (L). Museum purchase with funds provided by Henry Belin du Pont, 1957.0026.431.001-.003

Winterthur’s Dominy Clock Shop and Woodworking Shop are reconstructions of shops used by the Dominy family, four generations of craftsmen who worked in East Hampton, New York, from the mid-1700s to the mid-1800s. This collection provides a rare opportunity to glimpse a typical working environment of rural craftsmen active two centuries ago.

Treasures on Trial: The Art and Science of Detecting Fakes reveals the beguiling tales of over 40 forgeries and counterfeit objects of all types. This exhibitions questions: Do we see what we think we see? Is it real or fake?

This exhibition is on display in the Winterthur Galleries from April 1, 2017 to January 7, 2018.

Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library

Exhibition Bibliography