The Scottish Mountain Heritage Collection
1006.2012.1
Prismatic Compass
29/08/2012
Hermione Cooper
29/08/2012
Prismatic Compass with brass case and hinged lid. Mother of pearl dial.
brass, mother of pearl, glass
5.5(diameter x 3(h) cms
1
black
Bit of a curio this as it looks like the standard issue military prismatic compass that was issued from WWII right through to the 1970's but there are no markings anywhere to be found except for some faint lettering inside the lid. It's also slightly smaller than the standard military issue.
It certainly doesn't look like a cheap copy, with a brass case and mother of pearl dial, so it could be a civilian version of the military ones.
It's perhaps interesting to note that this type of compass required a protractor(see related items) to take bearings from a map - a rather complicated procedure which became much easier with the advent of the 'silva type'compass which incorporated the protracror in the baseplate, effectively amalgamating the two procedures.
To add a little more mystery to this wee compass - we are not quite sure where it came from - one of the many items that Mick Tighe acquired in his early collecting days.
Donated by Mick Tighe
29/08/2012
29/08/2012
Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007
29/08/2012
Mils (Military) Compass
Mils protractors
T.G. Co. Ltd Ex Military Brass Compass
Verner's Pattern MK VIII Compass (1917)