A BRASS, IRON AND OAK BINNACLE AND COMPASS
Lot 124 PROPERTY FROM THE WESTERVELT COMPANY (LOT 124-126)

A BRASS, IRON AND OAK BINNACLE AND COMPASS

LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY, KELVIN & JAMES WHITE LTD.

Closed23 August 2017

Price Realised

USD 1,500

More Information

How to sell

A BRASS, IRON AND OAK BINNACLE AND COMPASS
LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY, KELVIN & JAMES WHITE LTD.
Marked KELVIN & JAMES WHITE LTD/15 TO 20 CAMBRIDGE ST./GLASGOW & LONDON, the compass marked THE LORD KELVIN COMPASS CARD...
56 in. (142.5 cm.) high, 29 in. (74 cm.) wide, 20 in. (51 cm.) deep

Specialist note

Sir William Thomson (1824-1907), later Lord Kelvin, improved the accuracy of maritime navigation in the 19th century by using corrector magnets and iron spheres with binnacles to counteract the growing use of iron in ship construction that caused compass needles to deviate from magnetic north. He is also known for developing the Kelvin scale of absolute temperature measurement.