www.antik.it/Antique-compasses/7510-Nautical-Compass/
1674667158Code 7510 Nautical CompassMagnetic nautical compass, signed Henry Browne & Son Ltd Barking & London Trade Sestrel Mark, Barking & London, second half of the 19th century . Contained in its originale wooden box. Very good condition. Diameter compass inche 5.35, Measure box inches 7.8x 7.5 h 6.4.
The compass consists of a cylindrical brass container, called mortar, on whose bottom it is fixed a stem of hard metal, called sensitive element, on which the appropriately fixed compass card is placed, so that the zero coincides with the magnetic polarity. To reduce friction to a minimum, the mortar was filled with liquid with a low freezing point, which also had the purpose of rapidly damping any oscillations of the compass and closed at the top by a sturdy protective glass.
The first hints in Europe on the use of instruments using magnetic fields for orientation are dated back to the late twelfth century, especially thanks to the knowledge brought by merchants and sailors after contacts with the Arabs: we find hints in the work by Alexander Neckam "De nominibus utensilium" and in the works by Guyot de Provins, where the magnet is called "sailor's friend". Even the inventory of a Sicilian ship of 1200's, the San Nicolò, refers to the presence on board of a magnet and a "bussola di ligno", that is a wooden compass.
Sestrel is a trade mark of Henry Browne & son, an important English firm maker quality compasses, inclinometers, sextants, etc. established in the second half of XIX century. The brand ‘Sestrel’ was an amalgam of the qualities their instruments embody is in fact a name synonymous with quality and accuracy; this is evidenced by the sheer number of vintage and antique instruments still in use today.
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Antique compasses
Code 7510 Nautical Compass
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