Telephone model of Bell's liquid transmitter, Nynäshamn workshop 1953

What it is

This is a museum object mounted on a round wooden base. It is a tapering black cup-shaped vessel set above brass rods and a brass ring, with brass adjustment knobs and a small brass fitting on the base. The museum record states that it is a model of Bell's liquid transmitter, a liquid microphone, made by the Nynäshamn workshop of Televerket for its 100th anniversary at Skansen in 1953. A label reads T.M 41859. The model is held by the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology.

Why it matters

The record says that a model of Bell's Harmonic Telegraph receiving instrument was made at the same time. Both models show that Bell's inventions were remembered in Sweden as part of the history of telecommunications. The record also repeats the story of the disputed 1876 patent filings, in which Bell and Elisha Gray filed similar applications on the same day.

Look closer

• What does the shape of the black vessel suggest about how the device was supposed to work?
• Why would a telephone company make models of older inventions for an anniversary?
• What does a model leave out about the original device and the people who used it?