I believe I bought it at the Madison-Bouckville Antique Show in upstate New York back in the early 90's. I have no idea what it's origins are other than the fact that it was made in Switzerland, is constructed from machined brass, and bears a resemblance to some nautical devices used to plot courses visually. At a guess, it's a faux-maritime decorating item from the 70's. The first time I saw it I immediately thought of the witch compass from the horror film "Warlock".
Presentation wise it could use some help. It's mildly impressive now, but if I banged together a velvet lined case, added some greeblies to sex it up a bit, and worked up some faux-documentation it would be a real killer.
2 comments:
That may be a faux, ornamental instrument(and a rather attractive one at that), but I have used the genuine article.
It's a type of surveyor's compass that was used in mapping in conjunction with an inclinometer and plane-table. It's actually something that might have been used during the Australian expedition.
The whole lot is now packaged in a typical theodolite ... and may even come equipped with a couple of undergraduate students to operate it.
would you be able to find another or would you be willing to sell
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