Mariner's dry-card compass

DateCirca 1878

Mediumoak and brass

Dimensions7 1/2 × 9 3/4 × 9 1/4 in. (19.1 × 24.8 × 23.5 cm)

Donor credit lineKendall Whaling Museum Collection Transfer

Object number2001.100.4050

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionThe compass from the bark WANDERER is graduated in geographic headings with a fleur-de-lys north. The gimbal mounting is in a wood box with a sliding cover. The bowl and gimbal are brass and show minimal, if any, exposure to salt air.ProvenanceCompass from the bark WANDERER of New Bedford, the last active American square-rigged whaling vessel. Aboard the ship WANDERER when shipwrecked, August 1924; Mrs. Clark, Clark's Antique Shop, New Bedford, MA, 1924; Rev. and Mrs. William E. Barton ("a honeymooning minister and his wife"), Oak Park, IL, 1924; Whitlock's Antiquarian Booksellers, New Haven, CT; an unidentified marine antiques dealer, Canaan, CT; Dr. & Mrs. Lothar R. Candels, Avon, CT, 1972; gift to the Kendall Whaling Museum in memory of their son, Richard Carl Candels, 1992; Credit: "The compass of the bark 'Wanderer,' last square-rigged whaleship to fly the American flag, wrecked off Cuttyhunk Island during the hurricane of 8/26 [sic/1924], presented to the Kendall Whaling Museum in loving memory of Richard Carl Candels by his parents, Lothar and Elizabeth Candels. 'By the stars that shine above may his course still hold true.'"

On View

On view