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P409 Object lesson card, part of collection, 'The Goat', framed, mohair / leather / cardboard / glass / wood / textile, published by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1880-1884. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 2, P409 Object lesson card, part of collection, 'The Goat', framed, mohair / leather / cardboard / glass / wood / textile, published by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1880-1884. Click to enlarge
  • Image 2 of 2, P409 Object lesson card, part of collection, 'The Goat', framed, mohair / leather / cardboard / glass / wood / textile, published by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1880-1884. Click to enlarge

'The Goat' object lesson card by Oliver and Boyd

Made
Object lesson cards holding small objects, drawings and text were used in schools from the 1850s to the early 1900s. Their aim was to help children learn by seeing, touching and thinking, rather than just by reading, listening, copying and reciting. This particular card gave children some information about different types of goats, where they live and how people exploit them. As is typical of the cards in this set, its approach was uneven; for example, it gave considerable detail about the …

Summary

Object No.

P409

Object Statement

Object lesson card, part of collection, 'The Goat', framed, mohair / leather / cardboard / glass / wood / textile, published by Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1880-1884

Physical Description

This is one of a set of inexpensive cards designed for use in classrooms but framed at considerable expense for the purpose of exhibition. Most of the cards, whose subjects relate to the Animal, Vegetable or Mineral Kingdom, have an illustration as well as text and specimens. This card, Animal Kingdom No 5, has an illustration of an angora goat, and attached to it are a sample of mohair and samples of chamois, Morocco and kid leathers. Under the card's heading is a classification for the species, from division (Vertebrata) through class, order and sub-order to family (Bovidae) and genus (Capra), and under that the specimens are named.

The text provides information about chamois, cashmere and angora goats as well as about products obtained from goats: milk and cheese, especially in Switzerland and Syria; chamois leather made from the skin by the 'oil process'; expensive shawls spun and woven by Tibetan women from the wool of the cashmere goat; mohair, from the angora goat; skin, used to make bottles in 'the East' since biblical times; Morocco leather, made by tanning and used for bookbinding and upholstery; and kid gloves and boots, made in Britain and France from the skins of young goats.

Below the explanatory text is written: OLIVER AND BOYD, TWEEDDALE COURT, EDINBURGH / SET OF TWENTY, Price 21s LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL AND CO.

There are two metal-reinforced holes near the top of the card for hanging it in a classroom. The wooden frame is painted black with gilt edging and has two rings attached on the top edge for hanging it in an exhibition. The price of 21 shillings for a set of twenty cards would not have included the frames.

Short URL

https://ma.as/330485

Production

Made

Notes

The card was made by Oliver and Boyd in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1884 or a little earlier. This company, a major educational and general publisher and printer, was located at Tweeddale Court in central Edinburgh from 1817 until 1973.

The name of publisher Simpkin, Marshall and Co on the card probably indicates that this company was Oliver and Boyd's London agent, rather than that it was involved in making the product.

History

Notes

The Museum purchased the object from its maker in 1884.

Source

Credit Line

Purchased 1884

Acquisition Date

16 March 1884

Cite this Object

Harvard

'The Goat' object lesson card by Oliver and Boyd 2021, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 30 May 2023, <https://ma.as/330485>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/330485 |title='The Goat' object lesson card by Oliver and Boyd |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=30 May 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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