porcelain flat plate with numbers and arrows????

[villagenut]

Anybody ever see one of these? It has no base, but is flat with square corners. It has numbers as you see with increments in quarter inch marks. But oddly the big numbers do not match what you might think it to be. Between the 0 and the 6 and the 12 there is six increments equalling one and a half inches with a division at each 3/4 inch. What the heck was this thing? Found at a 1850-1900 site. So far this is all I got, no other marks to be found yet.

 

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[sandchip]

You sure got me. I'm hoping somebody here knows what it is, 'cause I don't have a clue. Neat as hell, though. I love the printing on it.

 

[diggingthe1]

It looks like a tile also if that helps, good luck, sure is interesting!

 

[NJKLAGT]

Maybe some old crafting table for making birthday cards and things? Or maybe even for baking/cooking, for measuring out lengths of dough? 'No idea...

 

[WannaDig3687]

Or maybe even for baking/cooking, for measuring out lengths of dough? 'No idea...

This makes sense to me. It could be used to measure the width of noodles and quantity per section (? I don't know how to say that correctly). I was not able to find a good example. If you find more of the middle pieces and it starts showing circles, that would confirm it for baking. Nice puzzle mystery you have going.

 

[villagenut]

It looks like a tile also if that helps, good luck, sure is interesting!

Yes it does look like a tile, but tiles were not finished on the bottom side as this one is.

 

[villagenut]

I didn't think old timers used measures when baking....they just knew how much to add from experience. I hope to find the rest of it but I only expect the number pattern to continue. But still, how is that number 12 supposed to mean anything except for 12/4 or 12 quarters. Easier to say 3 inches you would think.

 

[sandchip]

Man, you gotta get back out there and find some more pieces of this thing. I'm going nuts trying to figure out what the hell it could be. I would think that somewhere on it (if you can find the piece), there would've been a maker's name and possibly some kind of product name or patent number. Being ceramic, it's hard to imagine it being very large originally.

 

[villagenut]

I will be back there often enough but you know how difficult it is to find the pieces. Keep you posted.

 

[epackage]

Makes me wonder if it's not part of a sundial of some sort...

 

[Bass]

Are the marks recessed in the tile or just drawn on? It looks to me to be hand drawn because the increments do not appear to be exact

 

[BIGSCOTT]

0| | | | | | 6 | | | | | | 12
1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11
Why would it divide by six? dont Aliens have 6 toes and 6 fingers Ha Ha
makes you wonder why they divide a foot by 12 inches

Between the arrows is it exactly 1 1/2''?, also an arrow drawn like that means something.

 

[WannaDig3687]

So it's in 32nds rule? Am I doing the math right?

 

[NJKLAGT]

Here's an overwhelming variety of inches from the middle 19th century. America has gone through trends where they loved anything Italian, or anything French, for a period of time. Maybe some went so far as to adopt a new inch for a while? Or let's say you were a jeweler and had an Italian or French client, or an American client who just wanted to be in vogue. "Oh, you just have to go to Monsieur Bourgeois if you want fine jewelry, he does things the French way". I don't know.

What is true about units of measurement is that it doesn't really matter which you use. I could make up my own inch, make my own ruler or my own work surface, and as long as I stuck to that same system, I'd get the exact same results as if I had used any other system.

Why 6 and 12 though? Jim, sundial crossed my mind too, but I couldn't think of how that would work.

Mysterious...

 

[P.ALLEN]

Cool find!

 

[villagenut]

Are the marks recessed in the tile or just drawn on? It looks to me to be hand drawn because the increments do not appear to be exact

I am sure that the markings were put on the unglazed surface, and I have tried to photograph it using a light source to enhance that veiw. The increments are exactly 1/4 of an inch apart with a marker at every 3/4 of an inch and the large numbers are 1 and 1/2 inches apart. It starts with a 0 then a 6 and then 12 and looks like it would continue for at least a few more whole numbers....guessing a 18 would be next and then a 24. I will have to find more and as was said by sandchip, maybe the right shard will have a better clue.Thanks all for your thoughts on this one,vn.

 

[Crusty Shellback]

I'm guessing that is some sort of a chart, map, survey.. those arrows are pointing north and the increments are measurements such as degrees which can be broken into 60 minutes and each minute can be broken into sixty seconds...

 

[Bass]

I am sure that the markings were put on the unglazed surface, and I have tried to photograph it using a light source to enhance that veiw. The increments are exactly 1/4 of an inch apart with a marker at every 3/4 of an inch and the large numbers are 1 and 1/2 inches apart. It starts with a 0 then a 6 and then 12 and looks like it would continue for at least a few more whole numbers....guessing a 18 would be next and then a 24. I will have to find more and as was said by sandchip, maybe the right shard will have a better clue.Thanks all for your thoughts on this one,vn.
View attachment 1521259 View attachment 1521260 View attachment 1521261 View attachment 1521262

In the first picture you posted on the original post, the horizontal lines have “ups and downs,” meaning they are not perfectly straight. Also blocks 2,3 and 4 are smaller than block 5, meaning the vertical lines aren’t evenly spaced apart

 

[villagenut]

Yep, good eye Bass. I never saw it that way but yes, the lines are not so perfect.Maybe hand drawn before glaze and firing.