Magic Caster, Patent Model and Label
Decorative Arts and Design
In the United States, the government issues patents to protect the innovations of inventors and designers, reflecting the importance of new ideas and the objects that result from them. This is the actual model submitted to the Patent Office by Edward Gleason for a variant of the “magic caster.”
MEDIUM
White metal, brass, paper
DATES
patented December 1, 1857
DIMENSIONS
Model: 16 1/4 x 9 x 9 in. (41.3 x 22.9 x 22.9 cm); Label: 3 1/8" x 2 3/4"
(show scale)
ACCESSION NUMBER
1992.207a-b
CREDIT LINE
Purchased with funds given by the Long Island Chapter of the Victorian Society of America
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Edward Gleason. Magic Caster, Patent Model and Label, patented December 1, 1857. White metal, brass, paper, Model: 16 1/4 x 9 x 9 in. (41.3 x 22.9 x 22.9 cm); Label: 3 1/8" x 2 3/4". Brooklyn Museum, Purchased with funds given by the Long Island Chapter of the Victorian Society of America, 1992.207a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.1992.207a-b.jpg)
IMAGE
overall,
CUR.1992.207a-b.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2010
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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What is this?
That is a magic caster! One is the object itself, and the other is a patent model that was submitted to the US Government by the manufacturer, R. Gleason & Sons, for a patent. This would be placed on a dinner table and when the knob at the top was rotated, it would spin and reveal condiment bottles in those little openings!
