Skip Navigation

Pencil Sharpener, "Electro-Pointer"

Decorative Arts and Design

On View: Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
MEDIUM Molded plastic, metal
DATES ca. 1930
DIMENSIONS 5 7/8 x 3 5/8 x 8 1/4 in. (14.9 x 9.2 x 21 cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS (1) On (a), affixed on bottom of base, rectangular white sticker printed in blue: "[in script] Electro-Pointer / [printed] PATENTED / SERIAL / NUMBER 18247 / BY / STILE CRAFT MFGRS., INC. / 1825 MACKLIND AVE. / ST. LOUIS 10, MO." (2) On (a), on metal plate riveted to inside of body underneath drawer, molded: "STILE CRAFT / MFRS. INC. / ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI / MODEL [blank space] STYLE [blank space]" (3) On (b), affixed to proper right front of fillings drawer, round light yellow sticker printed in red: "[around outer edge] EMPTY THIS / DRAWER / [in center and framed by red ring] PULL"
ACCESSION NUMBER X908a-c
CREDIT LINE Brooklyn Museum Collection
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Streamlined electric pencil sharpener (a) with removable shavings drawer (b) and detachable cord (c). (a) Body in molded black plastic attached to conforming metal base with screws; underside of base lined with rubber. From rectangular base with rounded back side, body rises to triangular fin-shaped hump with a generally vertical front side, a downward curving top, and all-over rounded and streamlined contours. Shallow molded horizontal ridge along front side about 1 ½" up from bottom edge continues and angles down around each side toward back where the side ridges rise to a point and meet in center forming a triangle; down the center of this triangle, a raised pointed rib runs to base. Another raised pointed rib runs down center of front side. At top of front side is the pencil hole framed by a raised tear-drop shape attached to a disk; a ring around this disk has three equidistant pointers (marked "S", "M" and "L" for small, medium, and large), this ring can be turned to align the pointers with point of teardrop, thereby setting the diameter of the pencil hole. Socket for electric cord along bottom edge of body at proper right back. (b) Rectangular fillings drawer has black plastic front attached to metal drawer with screws; it fits into hole in bottom front side of sharpener so that drawer sits flush with body; raised triangular line down center of drawer aligns with similar form down front. (c) Electric cord is missing, 10/29/03. CONDITION: Good; scratches and abrasions all over plastic body; ring and disk around pencil hole are loose; body seems to be coming loose from base, especially at front; sticker on front of drawer has scratches and losses.
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Luce Visible Storage and Study Center, 5th Floor
CAPTION Stile Craft Manufacturers, Inc.. Pencil Sharpener, "Electro-Pointer," ca. 1930. Molded plastic, metal, 5 7/8 x 3 5/8 x 8 1/4 in. (14.9 x 9.2 x 21 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Museum Collection, X908a-c. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, x908a-c_view1_bw.jpg)
IMAGE overall, x908a-c_view1_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
RECORD COMPLETENESS
Not every record you will find here is complete. More information is available for some works than for others, and some entries have been updated more recently. Records are frequently reviewed and revised, and we welcome any additional information you might have.