F2483

Magnetic dial, with lid Long Caption: Magnetic dial for latitude 51° north, set in a round, turned ivory case with a screw-fit lid. The dial is printed on painted and varnished compass card (red around the edge, the remainder yellow), on the underside of which is a bar magnet, set on a point, to orient the dial correctly. Around the edge of the card is a compass ring with sixteen points marked, seven by English initials and north by a fleur-de-lys. The hour ring is numbered clockwise IIII-XII, I-VIII, and at the South point is a portrayal of a winged Father Time, with a scythe and hourglass. A snake biting its tail surrounds the hour-circle and a simple brass gnomon sits on the compass card. Credit line: © National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, Gabb Collection Object: AST0421 Artist: Samuel Porter Date: 1824 Medium: ivory; brass; card; glass; string Size: 28 mm x 53 mm Click here to buy a bespoke print of this image.