Exceptionnel cercle d'arpentage Lot n° 151

Remarkable surveyor's compass in gilt brass, richly embellished with cut-out foliage volutes and engraved shells in the centre. The surround is divided into degrees and fea-tures a table that can be used as a shadow square, as well as a scale for internal and external polygons. The instrument is completed by an alidade with pinnules and a tangential ruler divided into 200 sections, which carries the signature. A ring enables the compass to be used in a vertical position for observing the stars. Signed: Leonard Damery Matemat A Bruxelles 17th century H: 7.4 in. (9 in. with the ring) Diam: 6 in. Small accidents. “Originally from Liège, Damery [...] has settled in Brussels [...] and signs [...] in particular whole surveyor's compass”. Bibliography: H. Michel Étude d'une collection d'instruments anciens de mathématique, Antwerp, 1939, p. 89. ARG2021