Beschreibung:

a brass and cedar-paneled ship's binnacle, with circular wood base and magnetic compensators. Fitted with brass cover and stamped nameplate Lord Kelvin's Patents Sir William Thomson / No 6714 / Makers / Whyte, Thompson & Co. / 96 Hope Street Glasgow. Gauge immediately above with numbered gradient from 40-0-40 with Whyte, Thomson & Co. / 96 Hope Street Glasgow on the face. Large front observation window permits viewer to see a John E Hand & Sons Co. Phila wet-card compass with fleur-de-lis to designate north. Small observation window in the rear of the hood. Brass tube attached to backside; 56" high x 21" wide x 20" deep. See Ball, Nautical Antiques pp. 139-140. In the 1870s a patent compass and binnacle were created by Lord Kelvin (then William Thomson that revolutionized the compasses that sailor's used. He created two compensating magnets to counter the deviation created by the hull in iron-clad ships. Condition: Unit has been converted to modern electric capacity.