Surveyor's Compass
name: label: maker
content: Davenport, Anthony
notes: label: Description
content: Wooden surveyor's compass with a paper card that reads "ANTHONY DAVENPORT, PORTLAND." Davenport ran a mathematical instrument shop, At the Sign of the Quadrant and Compass, in Portland, Me., during the period 1823-1838. Most of his wares were for nautical use, but according to an undated trade card now in the Mystic Seaport Museum, he also sold "Brass and Wood Surveyors' COMPASSES." The Davenport signature on this example appears on a small circle of paper that has been pasted over the name of the man for whom the compass card was originally made. The words "Callender scp." on the card refer to Joseph Callendar (1751-1821), an engraver who produced the plates for the compasses and trade cards used by several New England instrument makers and dealers.
label: Description
content: Ref: Davenport advertisements in the <i>New American Practical Navigator</i> (1826 and 1838).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Maine, Portland
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Surveying and Geodesy
label: See more items in
content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Elizabeth P. Berry
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1989.0541.01
label: accession number
content: 1989.0541
label: catalog number
content: 1989.0541.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: surveyor's compass
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall length: 13 3/4 in; 34.925 cm
label: Measurements
content: needle: 5 1/2 in; 13.97 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall in case: 4 7/16 in x 15 7/8 in x 7 1/2 in; 11.27125 cm x 40.3225 cm x 19.05 cm