56-hour marine chronometer
Date: circa 1880
Inventory Number: DW0246
Classification: Chronometer
Subject:
Maker: John Bliss & Company (1857 - 1956)
Maker: English ?
Cultural Region:
Dimensions:
instrument: 14.9 × 15 × 7 cm (5 7/8 × 5 7/8 × 2 3/4 in.)
box: 18.6 × 21.2 × 18.7 cm (7 5/16 × 8 3/8 × 7 3/8 in.)
Accessories: "Tipsy" winding key
Description:
Chronometer of 56 hour duration is set in gimbals in a mahogany box.
The chronometer face is silvered. The outer dial shows hours and minutes, I-XII with divisions every minute. Its hands are gilt, and the hour hand is shaped like a spade. The smaller dial above the six-o'clock point shows seconds, and is marked 0-60 every 1 second. It has a very slender hand.
Below the twelve-o'clock point is the smallest dial. It shows how long the chronometer has been running in terms of hours remaining. The scale runs 0-56, and is divided every 8 hours. At numeral "24," it is marked "WIND," and at "0," it is marked "UP." At "56," it reads "DOWN." It has one gilt hand.
The maker's name is set along the III-IX axis of the face.
The box has a secondary glass cover to protect the chronometer, and an outer lid to protect the glass.
There is a keyhole on the front of the box and brass handles on its sides.
The chronometer face is silvered. The outer dial shows hours and minutes, I-XII with divisions every minute. Its hands are gilt, and the hour hand is shaped like a spade. The smaller dial above the six-o'clock point shows seconds, and is marked 0-60 every 1 second. It has a very slender hand.
Below the twelve-o'clock point is the smallest dial. It shows how long the chronometer has been running in terms of hours remaining. The scale runs 0-56, and is divided every 8 hours. At numeral "24," it is marked "WIND," and at "0," it is marked "UP." At "56," it reads "DOWN." It has one gilt hand.
The maker's name is set along the III-IX axis of the face.
The box has a secondary glass cover to protect the chronometer, and an outer lid to protect the glass.
There is a keyhole on the front of the box and brass handles on its sides.
In Collection(s)
Signedon dial: JOHN BLISS & Co. / New York No. 2620
Inscribedon front plate of movement: GH
on side: 2620
on side: 2620
FunctionA marine chronometer was used in a ship to keep the time from the port of origin while at sea. With that data, ships were able to find the longitude anywhere on the ocean by simply determining the time at their current position.
Historical AttributesThe chronometer movement has the ebauche maker's mark "GH" on the front plate. It may have been made in England for retail in US.
Curatorial RemarksThe chronometer movement is missing parts and is broken, according to John Losch in 1985.