THE DIAL SIGNED BY RICHARD PATTEN (1792-1865), NEW YORK, 1813-1840

With its intricately engraved dial and sophisticated engineering, this surveyor's compass is a relic of one of America's most revered trade professions. Surveyors and their tools were inextricably linked first to the discovery and mapping of the colonies and later to the definition of states' lines and commercial expansion of the nineteenth century. Richard Patten began his career manufacturing mathematical instruments in New York in 1813, advertising himself as the "only Manufacturer of Sextants & Quadrants in New York." He provided tools and implements for several government surveys, including an 1819 expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains. As this compass lacks spirit levels and a needle lock, it appears to be an early example of Patten's work.