Reproduction Salem Compass

This handsome desk compass is inspired by one crafted circa-1810 by the nautical instrument maker Samuel Emery of Salem, Massachusetts. An important early seaport, Salem's merchant captains helped shape Federal period taste through their trade with foreign lands. A notable detail on this compass, and one that indicated the early date of the original that inspired it, is that the east compass point is decorated. This tradition remained in place from the days of the Crusaders, who traveled east during the Middle Ages. Brass compass within a mahogany-finished box.