Object data
brass, iron, silver, agate and glass
diameter 4.7 cm
anonymous
Pocket Compass
France, c. 1800 - c. 1858
Provenance
...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1883
Object number: NG-MC-880
Copyright: Public domain
Entry
Pocket compass in a brass case, with a silvered brass face with the half cardinal points.
The sector between north-west and north is graduated at 5 degree intervals. On a raised rim at the level of the compass needle, a scale divided from 0 to 360 degrees clockwise is positioned. The needle locking arm is operated from the side. One end of the needle has been blued.
Two pocket compasses are mentioned by Obreen1, but only one was found. A similar pocket compass is in the collection of the Teylers Museum in Haarlem.2
Literature
J.M. Obreen, Catalogus der verzameling modellen van het Departement van Marine, The Hague 1858, no. 880; G.l’E. Turner, Van Marum’s Scientific Instruments in Teyler’s Museum, in E. Lefebvre and J.G. de Bruijn (eds.), Martinus van Marum: Life and Work, 6 vols., vol. 2, Leiden 1973, pp. 127-401, no. 86.
Citation
J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous, Pocket Compass, France, c. 1800 - c. 1858', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.244694
(accessed 23 November 2024 06:13:46).