Dry Card Compass
date: label: date made
content: 19th century
name: label: maker
content: Riggs & Brother
notes: label: Description
content: This compass has a wooden bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The paper card has an ornate American eagle with a ribband in its mouth reading "E PLURIBUS UNUM" at north. The inscriptions read "Wm Helffricht. Philadelphia" and "W. H. C. RIGGS, Front near Dock St." This card was probably made for William Davenport. It was used by his successor, William Helffricht. The overlaid signature is that of W. H. C. Riggs, a clock and watch maker in Philadelphia whose firm became W. H. C. Riggs & Son in 1863. On the side of the box is a trade card of Riggs & Brother, who were in business from 1865 to 1901.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Navigation
label: See more items in
content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Estate of Harry J. Tinsley
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.330471
label: catalog number
content: 330471
label: accession number
content: 291268
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Nautical Compass (Dry Card)
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: compass: 7 in; 17.78 cm
label: Measurements
content: box: 10 in x 10 in; 25.4 cm x 25.4 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall in box: 6 9/16 in x 10 3/8 in x 10 1/4 in; 16.66748 cm x 26.3525 cm x 26.035 cm