Object Details
- Description (Brief)
- Model to accompany US patent number 132, "Electric Motor, issued to Thomas Davenport, 25 February 1837. This is the first US patent issued for an electric motor. No extant markings. The patent claims: "Applying magnetic and electromagnetic power as a moving principle for machinery in the manner above described, or in any other substantially the same in principle". Wooden base, 9 by 14 in., supported on four curved legs, carrying a circular frame, in which there are four rough electro-magnets, painted red, made to revolve within a ring of steel magnets. The steel magnets in the ring are crescent-shaped can be lifted out of the frame. Reference: W. James King, Development of Electrical Technology in the 19th Century (Smithsonian Institution, 1962), 264.
- This model was made by Vermont blacksmith Thomas Davenport (1802-1851) as a replacement for his original patent model. The original was destroyed in the 1836 fire at the US Patent Office. Davenport may have incorporated improvements in this model that are not reflected in the patent drawings.
- See more items in
- Work and Industry: Electricity
- Exhibition
- Lighting a Revolution
- Exhibition Location
- National Museum of American History
- date made
- ca 1837
- ID Number
- EM.252644
- catalog number
- 252644
- accession number
- 49064
- patent number
- 132
- associated person
- Davenport
- maker
- Davenport
- Davenport, Thomas
- Measurements
- overall: 15 in x 10 in x 15 in; 38.1 cm x 25.4 cm x 38.1 cm
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- Object Name
- Electric Motor
- motor
- electric motor
- Object Type
- Patent Model
- Other Terms
- Electric Motor; Electromagnetic Devices
- Record ID
- nmah_703302
Related Object Groups
3D Model