mariner's dry card compass with azimuth fixture
Date: 1825-1843
Inventory Number: DW0519
Classification: Magnetic Compass
Dimensions:box: 14.6 × 27.8 × 27.8 cm (5 3/4 × 10 15/16 × 10 15/16 in.)
DescriptionThis mariner's compass has a 7 5/8" dry card mounted on a jeweled bearing held in brass. The card is made of a sandwich of printed paper (with wind rose), a large disk of mica, and another printed sheet of paper containing a table of solar declination corrections and an advertisement for marine chronometers made for the United States government by E. & G. W. Blunt at 179 Water Street, New York. The needle is a flat bar held by card stock. Red sealing wax is used to level the card.
The black-and-white wind rose has 64 points marked in English initials. The north point is not ornamented by the usual fleur-de-lys, but by a political trophy containing crossed flags--one with an eagle clutching an olive branch and arrows in its talons, perched on a shield, and the other the United States stars-and-stripes flag--along with a United States shield, fouled anchor, and a telescope.
The compass bowl is brass and is set in gimbals. The interior is painted white and is marked with a lubber's line fore and aft. The glass cover is held in its ring with red putty.
The protective box is made of mahogany. The lid is missing.
Found in the box is an azimuth sighting attachment that slips over the compass. It is a ring formed of a brass band secured with copper rivets. There are two flat strips of brass that flip-up to form slotted sights.