This rare early American binnacle features a great looking bronze lid with a nice patina in a classic mushroom shape. Also includes its original oil lantern. The binnacle also features brass at the base, iron correcting spheres and a fine wood base.

Riggs Brothers was founded in 1818 by William H.C. Riggs originally making clocks but later expanded into advanced nautical instruments like binnacles, chronometers and compasses as well as charts to local sailors and the US Government. They were a top supplier and instrument maker and this is the first complete binnacle by the company we have ever had. Old photos of the Riggs Brothers shop location at 310 Market Street in Philadelphia show a wooden statue of a mariner using a sextant above the door. This statue is now in the collection of the Independence Seaport Museum also in Philadelphia.

A binnacle is an extremely important instrument aboard ship- so much so that many ships had several in order to ensure they did not veer off course. More than just a compass, a binnacle is a complete housing for the ship’s compass and a number of other parts which correct it, including magnets and iron objects.

Magnetic compasses have been around for more than a thousand years and at first, binnacles were not much more than a protective stand or housing for the ship’s compass, so vital at sea, particularly when a ship was not in sight of land.

Later, as more metals were used in ship construction, these caused magnetic interference with the ship’s compasses which required correction to get an accurate reading on a ship’s position and direction. As these impacts and magnetism in general were better understood, binnacles were ... Read More