Need help identifying this press

Can anyone identify this press? I bought it in Tel Aviv, and it is more likely to be of European than American origin, but that’s a guess. The printer I bought it from referred to it as a “Boston.” The other printers I spoke to here refer to presses of this type as “Tiegel,” which seems to be a local generic name for the platen press, although it occured to me that perhaps the press is, in fact, a Boston Tiegel. The chase is 6.5 x 9 inches. The only markings on the press are an etched number, 472, at the bottom (back side) of the lever, and the letters HIV, cast upside-down in raised letters on the back of the press, on the bar that attaches the lever handle to the press (below the underside of the ink disk). I can post additional pictures if these don’t do the trick. Thanks very much for any help. —-Sharon

image: My  Press (2).jpg

My Press (2).jpg

image: My  Press (3).jpg

My Press (3).jpg

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Looks like a Golding, which at one time was made in Boston MA. Very nice little press.

That was actually my initial guess. When I first bought it I thought maybe it was a Golding, but then I spent so much time staring at pictures of presses trying to confirm this that I ended up totally confused.

Actually, if it doesn’t say “Golding” on it in raised letters, probably on the link to the roller arms, it’s probably a Sigwalt Nonpareil. The size 6.5x9 isn’t standard to either. The platen support seems more Golding, and I am not sure about the bolted-on bed roller rails. My Nonpareil has a different platen support and neither it nor my Golding Official have bolted roller rails, so it may be a European knock-off. The thicker ink disc and base flange are more like Sigwalt’s. From what I can see of the handle it’s not like either!

I’d say it is a clone of some sort. It has a round base so it isn’t a Sigwalt.

I also realized that Craftsman Machinery in Boston made a smaller version of the table-top press - I own a 4x6 - that uses the same mechanicals as the Golding and Sigwalt, in slightly different form. It’s possible they made a 6.5x9 version also and being in Boston and later than Golding they might have made a larger press a closer copy of the Golding Official.

Sigwalt’s Nonpareil was advertised in print and pictured with a round base — which my press has. The later Ideal had a square base.