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FRENCH, LATER ADAPTED BY SMITH CIRCA 1790
Details
AN AZIMUTH COMPASS
FRENCH, LATER ADAPTED BY SMITH CIRCA 1790
A Georgian Mariner’s Compass, possibly refitted by one of the only female scientific instrument makers of the period; with direct provenance from the late 18th century.
The compass itself is of French manufacture, made by Joseph Roux in Marseilles. It dates from the second half of the 18th century, and, because of the presence of a fleur de lis at northern point, was almost certainly not in use by a French ship after the Reign of Terror in 1793-94. The paper label which has been added to the face of the compass identifies it as having passed through Smith’s in Pool Lane in Liverpool. Quite extraordinarily for the period, the shop was run from 1788 by a woman. Ann Smith, the widow of the mathematical instrument maker and philosophy lecturer Egerton Smith, took over the running of the shop upon his death. It is therefore possible that this compass was refitted by one of the vanishingly few women in the Georgian period who made and sold scientific instruments. At least three other shops on Pool Lane were also run by women in the period; a milliner, a silver smith, and a bookseller. Surrounded as she was by a spirit of female entrepreneurship, it is perhaps no surprise that Ann Smith decided to take over continue her husband’s trade.
The compass was owned by Joseph Davis, a Liverpudlian mariner in the late 18th century and the master of ships fitted for Atlantic crossings. Whether the compass was acquired from a French ship by Davis on one of these crossings or purchased more peaceably from Smith’s, it is not possible to know. The compass passed from Davis by descent, and is offered here with an unbroken provenance from the late 18th century.
Signed to the cartouche at centre of the compass SMITH Pool Lane LIVERPOOL, this above the original signature on compass card fait par Joseph Roux sur le port a Marseille, the compass in glazed and sealed box with gimbals and sights [corroded and not moving, one sight and pin lost], and two sliding viewing windows, later [?] pine sliding lid.
11 ¼ x 11 ¼ x 6 ¾ in. (28.5 x 28.5 x 17cm.)
FRENCH, LATER ADAPTED BY SMITH CIRCA 1790
A Georgian Mariner’s Compass, possibly refitted by one of the only female scientific instrument makers of the period; with direct provenance from the late 18th century.
The compass itself is of French manufacture, made by Joseph Roux in Marseilles. It dates from the second half of the 18th century, and, because of the presence of a fleur de lis at northern point, was almost certainly not in use by a French ship after the Reign of Terror in 1793-94. The paper label which has been added to the face of the compass identifies it as having passed through Smith’s in Pool Lane in Liverpool. Quite extraordinarily for the period, the shop was run from 1788 by a woman. Ann Smith, the widow of the mathematical instrument maker and philosophy lecturer Egerton Smith, took over the running of the shop upon his death. It is therefore possible that this compass was refitted by one of the vanishingly few women in the Georgian period who made and sold scientific instruments. At least three other shops on Pool Lane were also run by women in the period; a milliner, a silver smith, and a bookseller. Surrounded as she was by a spirit of female entrepreneurship, it is perhaps no surprise that Ann Smith decided to take over continue her husband’s trade.
The compass was owned by Joseph Davis, a Liverpudlian mariner in the late 18th century and the master of ships fitted for Atlantic crossings. Whether the compass was acquired from a French ship by Davis on one of these crossings or purchased more peaceably from Smith’s, it is not possible to know. The compass passed from Davis by descent, and is offered here with an unbroken provenance from the late 18th century.
Signed to the cartouche at centre of the compass SMITH Pool Lane LIVERPOOL, this above the original signature on compass card fait par Joseph Roux sur le port a Marseille, the compass in glazed and sealed box with gimbals and sights [corroded and not moving, one sight and pin lost], and two sliding viewing windows, later [?] pine sliding lid.
11 ¼ x 11 ¼ x 6 ¾ in. (28.5 x 28.5 x 17cm.)
Brought to you by
Mark Wiltshire
Specialist