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"Winter Fine Art & Antiques Fair - Loan Exhibition 2008," Kent and London, United Kingdom
Client: Clarion Events
Event: Winter Fine Art & Antiques Fair - Loan Exhibition 2008
Place: Kent and London, United Kingdom
Crown Fine Arts moved the world's first calculating machine from its home at Chevening House, Kent, to the Loan Exhibition at the Winter Fine Art & Antiques Fair Olympia 2008, London, United Kingdom. The machine, which hasn't left its current home since 1816, was transportred along with a collection of original plans and drawings of the calculator and a portrait of its inventor, Charles 3rd Earl Stanhope, painted by Thomas Gainsborough.
Earl Stanhope’s ‘arithmetical machine’ solved problems in multiplication and division by the turning of a small winch. It was the world’s first to tackle the tens carry mechanism and is viewed as a marvel of 18th century ingenuity. It is one of only two surviving examples and is seen as a forerunner to today’s computer.
The machine, plans and portrait were the focus of the Loan Exhibition at the fair and Crown were charged with the packing, transportation, installation and return services.
