A rare and exceptionally crafted french scale model of a Aloïs Quintenz-type decimal platform balance, dating to circa 1830–1850.

France circa 1830.

Constructed from rich, warm-toned hardwood (walnut Juglans Regia L.,1753) and intricately forged iron, this working salesman or patent model demonstrates the revolutionary decimal weighing system widely adopted in 19th-century France according to Alois Quïntenz from Strasbourg in France.He applied for a patenton his design on 1821. Designed to weigh heavy agricultural goods, such as grain sacks, using a clever system of compound levers, it allows heavy loads placed on the left platform to be balanced by much smaller counterweights on the suspended right pan.Given its compact, highly detailed proportions, this piece was crafted as a salesman’s display model or technical institution demonstrator. A remarkably handsome and authentic piece of industrial history.

15” – 39,50 CM H 24” 61 CM L 8” – 20 CM D

REF: M5722