Credit: © The Royal Society
Image number: RS.9781
Looking for a special gift? Buy a print of this image.
Design for a diving bell
Date
1784
Creator
Granville Sharp (1735 - 1813, British) , Author
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (drawing): 397mm
width (drawing): 245mm
width (drawing): 245mm
Subject
Description
Unpublished plate from a paper on the art of diving by Anthony Fothergill FRS (1737-1813) and Granville Sharp. Submitted to Dr William Watson for publication in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, but not printed.
The scheme shows an upturned boat with a single passenger. The boat is held in a wooden frame and a weighted rope is passed through its keel. By operating a pulley system, the diver supposedly can raise and lower the improvised diving bell.
Inscribed: “A Machine for Diving proposed to be constructed on principles entirely new, whereby the Divers may be enabled to ascend or descend at their pleasure...designed in the year 1775 by Granvill Sharp...” An endorsement verso states that this is a “Copy of an original Sketch (designed in 1775...).”
The scheme shows an upturned boat with a single passenger. The boat is held in a wooden frame and a weighted rope is passed through its keel. By operating a pulley system, the diver supposedly can raise and lower the improvised diving bell.
Inscribed: “A Machine for Diving proposed to be constructed on principles entirely new, whereby the Divers may be enabled to ascend or descend at their pleasure...designed in the year 1775 by Granvill Sharp...” An endorsement verso states that this is a “Copy of an original Sketch (designed in 1775...).”
Associated place