Pen nib box
John Heath
Category
Education objects
Date
Unknown
Materials
Cardboard and metal
Measurements
Each box - 64 mm (length); 48 mm (width); 25 mm (height)
Place of origin
Birmingham
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 666649
Summary
Three small cardboard boxes of metal pen nibs, two of which are sealed. The open box contains 130 metal pen nibs. The sides of each box are covered with a blue willow pattern paper. The lid of each box has a red and yellow paper label on which is printed 'John Heath's Turned up Points, Telephone Pen, Holds a large supply of ink, No.0278F, Perfection, This Box Contains One Gross.' Note there are only 130 not 144 pen nibs. On both of the sealed boxes is an additional black paper label printed in embossed gold coloured lettering reading 'J. and H. Bell Ltd. Nottingham'. On the underside of each box is a printed paper label with the word 'Caution' printed at the top and the signature of John Heath at the bottom. Impressed on each metal nib is an 'H' inside a diamond shape and 'John Heath's Telephone Pen 0278 F'. Total number of items is 134.
Provenance
'Derbyshire Museum Service History of Education Collection' - a collection established by Derbyshire Museum Service (through gifts from individuals, Derbyshire schools and purchases) in the 1940s and stored at Sudbury Hall from the early 1970s to 2012. The National Trust managed the collection between 1991 and 2012 when legal ownership was transferred from Derbyshire County Council to the National Trust. Archival records information - "The collection was established as a result of isolated gifts in the 1940's, and the 'savings' of certain school records (now passed to County Records) during wartime paper salvage." "During the 1950s it was L.E.A. practice to hold an Easter Course for teachers, and the County (Derbyshire) Museum arranged a special exhibition for teach course. As by the mid 1950s quite a collection had already accumulated, it was decided to produce an exhibition on the history of education with special reference to Derbyshire. Consequently, further material was purchased, from which items were selected. The exhibition was subsequently shown at a number of centres, and after disbandment, additions continued to be made with the aim of eventually producing a reconstructed classroom as a base for research. The Derby Bishop Lonsdale College of Education has frequently made use of the collection in various ways."
Makers and roles
John Heath , maker