A superb cased Victorian naval station pointer - or three arm protractor - by Elliott Brothers of London. Long before the days of radar, global positioning and electronic charts, this simple yet ingenious device would have been used by a ships navigator to accurately locate a ship's position through a process of triangulation. Using a sextant, horizontal bearings would have been taken from prominent landmarks - headlands, channel markers, light houses, church spires etc - with these angles then transposed onto the outer arms of the station pointer. The arms could be locked into position using the screw clamps. With the station pointer laying flat on the chart and the arms positioned against the landmarks for which bearings had been taken, the ship's location could be determined.

This superbly preserved example, manufactured from lacquered brass and with a silvered circular scale and the added refinement of twin micrometers for fine adjustment, is nicely engraved 'Elliott Bros, London' and is contained within its original fitted and baize-lined wooden case.

Dial 21cm diameter, arms 77cm, case 56cm x 27cm x 6cm. Likely dating to around 1890.

Elliott Brothers were a company of instrument makers founded in 1804 and operating from High Holborn in central London. The company was established by William Elliott (1781-1853), an optician and instrument maker, and later continued under the management of his sons Frederick and Charles. The company developed a long-standing partnership with the British Admiralty, supplying a variety of equipment for use on Naval warships.

Condition: Station Pointers of this age and quality are rare to find. This beautifully crafted example survives in excellent overall condition, the brass-work still bearing its original protective lacquer with just a few surface marks. The original fitted case is in similarly good condition, again still with the protection of its original French Polish but also with numerous light surface scratches consistent with age and use. There are some ink stains adjacent to the inner hinges and some pencil marks to the inside of the lid. The baize lining is in good order with minor fading. Key absent.

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