£800 - £1,200
ADMIRAL EARL HOWE’S SILVER POCKET SEA COMPASS, CIRCA 1755
the 2in. silvered card signed around a jewelled pivot JOHN MORGAN LONDON and contained within a glazed silver drum case with card clamp operated by the hinged lid with thumb piece and indistinct maker's mark 'WL' inside, the top engraved with a ribbon banner inscribed RICHARD EARL HOWE surmounted by the Howe family crest and an earl’s coronet – 2¼in. (6cm.) diam.
Admiral of the Fleet Richard Earl Howe (1726-1799) served in the Wars of the Austrian Succession, the Seven Years War, and War of American Independence before achieving fame with his great victory at the Glorious First of June in 1794. Dating to his commission as post-captain, this compass may have accompanied Howe throughout his illustrious sea service.
John Morgan, (active 1746, died 1758), is recorded as a compass maker at Finch Lane, Cornhill, London, and later, at Fleet Street, London. Among his apprentices was, in 1755, James Watt (1736-1819), the celebrated Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer.
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32.4% inc VAT*
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28.80% inc VAT*
