Accession No
2816
Brief Description
marine compass, by Lilley and Son, English, 1880 (c)
Origin
England; London
Maker
Lilley and son
Class
magnetism
Earliest Date
1880
Latest Date
1880
Inscription Date
Material
paper (card); metal (brass, lead); hide (leather); wood; glass
Dimensions
box length 343mm; breadth 340mm; height 194mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Christie’s, South Kensington, London, England; lot 161, 7/1/1982.
Inscription
‘LILLEY & SON LONDON’
Description Notes
Dry card compass. Black-painted brass bowl, with lead weight bolted to bottom, painted white inside with 4 lubber lines. Suspended by 4 leather straps to gimbal mounting within wooden box with sliding lid.
Glazed bezel. Printed card, 128 points, fleur-de-lys N and decorated E, and divided by degrees 0-90-0-90-0.
References
Events
Description
Magnetic compass
The magnetic compass consists of a magnetic needle attached to a compass card, graduated into angular points, and is used for navigation. The first known dry pivoted compass is dated as early as 1269.
The compass indicates the direction of the magnetic pole but there are problems caused by the difference between magnetic and true north (true north being the useful reading). The variation between the two must be calculated in order to obtain an accurate reading. True north was sometimes simply offset from the direction of magnetic north, but this did not allow for geographical variation. For this, charts were needed. The iron used in building ships during 19th century also led to problems because the magnetism of iron affected the compasses on board.
18/10/2002
Created by: Saffron Clackson on 18/10/2002
FM:44453
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