Lion Steelyard 56lb/16lb

A steelyard is a straight-beam balance with arms of unequal length.  It has a counterweight which slides along the calibrated longer arm to counterbalance the load and indicate the weight.

 

This steelyard has dual calibration, at 56lb and 16lb, the suspension point for the lighter weight moving from the centre knife edge to that nearest the poise weight, and the instrument being hung from the opposite side.

 

After supplying many 1000s of such scales to the War Department for use by the British Army in France for weighing meat and other rations for the troops in the field, the Company clearly saw a market in France itself, and introduced a metric version.

 

A steelyard is also known as a Roman steelyard, or Romaine, which is how it is described in this leaflet dated 12th May 1916.

 

The scales in our collection are both stamped with the War Department arrow, with dates of 1916 and 1917, and reverification marks for 1941 and 1942 respectively.