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Nautical magnetic compass, signed by Henry Browne & Son Ltd Sestrel 1942.

About the Item

Nautical magnetic compass, signed by Henry Browne & Son Ltd Sestrel 1942, Barking & London 1942. Good condition, slight abrasion on compass rose. The compass is mounted on ebonized wooden board and custom-made reelized brass. Compass diameter cm 13.5 -inch 5.3, height with base cm 13 -inch 5.1, table width cm 18 -inch 7.1. The compass is consisting of a cylindrical-shaped brass vessel called a mortar, on which fund is fixed a hard metal stem, called the sensing element, on which the suitably constrained wind rose is placed so that zero coincides with the magnetic polarity. To minimize friction, the mortar was filled with low-freezing point liquid, also having the purpose of quickly damping any oscillations of the complex and closed at the top by a strong protective glass. Sestrel is a registered trademark of Henry Browne & Son, which was an important English firm producing high quality compasses, inclinometers, sextants, etc. founded in the second half of the 19th century. The brand is a name that results from the initials of the qualities that the brand itself embodies: SEnsitive -STeady - RELiable. Indeed, Sestrel is a name synonymous with quality and precision, as evidenced by the number of instruments with that mark, vintage and ancient, still in use today. The earliest hints of the use in Europe of instruments that harnessed magnetic force for navigational orientation date back to the late 12th century, mainly due to the knowledge brought by Arab merchants and navigators: we find hints of this in Alexander Neckam's work "De nominibus utensilium" and in the works of Guyot de Provins in which the magnet is referred to as the "sailor's companion." The inventory of a 13th-century Sicilian ship, the San Nicolo, also mentions the presence of a magnet and a "ligno compass" on board.

Dimensions:

Height: 5.1 in (12.96 cm)Diameter: 5.3 in (13.47 cm)

Materials and Techniques:

Brass

Period:

1940-1949

Date of Manufacture:

1942

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use.

Seller Location:

Milan, IT