Surveyor's Compass
name: label: maker
content: Balch, Thomas H.
label: maker
content: Short, George
notes: label: Description
content: The "THOS H. BALCH Maker State Street NEWBURYPORT" inscription on the paper card on this wooden compass refers to Thomas H. Balch (1771-1817). According to an advertisement in the <i>Newburyport [Massachusetts] Herald</i> for August 8, 1806, Balch's shop could be found under the Sign of the Mariner's Compass. Like many artisans, Balch did not make every part of every instrument that carried his name. From research in local records, Martha Fales found that a local cabinet maker named George Short made the boxes for Balch's nautical compasses.
label: Description
content: Ref: Martha G. Fales, "Makers of Mariners' Compasses in Newburyport," <i>American Neptune</i> 28 (1968): 144-145.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Newburyport
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
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: American Neptune
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.337209
label: catalog number
content: 337209
label: accession number
content: 1979.0260
objectType: label: Object Name
content: compass (surveyor's plain)
label: Object Name
content: Surveyor's Compass
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall length: 16 1/16 in; 40.79875 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 8 1/8 in x 16 1/8 in x 8 in; 20.6375 cm x 40.9575 cm x 20.32 cm