A very rare A. W. Gamage Ltd Singer's Patent-type luminous pocket compass, dating from c.1898. The paper compass card is hand drawn in the classic Singer's design, and signed by 'A. W. Gamage Ltd, London'. The compass was made by Francis Barker & Son and retailed by Gamage from their department store in Holborn. It has the post-1875 reversed 'S' 'Trade Mark London' Barker logo within the lyre at 'N', but also has the pre-1875 Barker logo stamped inside the lid. A. W. Gamage became a limited company in 1897, so it would seem that Barker fitted a compass card made around 1898 to a case they had made much earlier, before the change of logo in 1875. It is very unusual to find the two different Barker logos on the same compass.
The compass has luminous paint markers at the four cardinal points. This type of luminous paint, most probably a version of 'Balmain's Luminous Paint', was a compound of calcium sulphide. The paint was made luminous by exposure to sunlight or by burning a strip of magnesium ribbon near the compass card. It was patented in England by William Balmain in 1877, and was often used in compasses during the last quarter of the 19th century. The compass has a brass hunter case, paper card with jewelled pivot, and a transit lock. There is a paper sighting line inside the lid, along with the remains of the original oval instruction label. This label would have read: 'To render the compass luminous at night it should be exposed to the daylight, or preferably by burning about 1-inch Magnesium ribbon close to the dial'.
A. W. Gamage Ltd: was established in 1878 when Albert Walter Gamage (1855-1930) opened a shop in London in partnership with Frank Spain. They leased a small hosiery and outfitters shop at 128 Holborn, and Gamage hung his motto "Tall Oaks from Little Acorns Grow" above the door. In 1881 Gamage bought out Frank Spain and began to expand the premises by buying the small properties that surrounded his original shop until most of the block between Leather Lane and Hatton Garden was in his hands. This massive shop was now known as A. W. Gamage. By the end of the nineteenth century Gamage had turned his premises at High Holborn into one of the capital’s major department stores. The business became A. W. Gamage Ltd in 1897, and was known as the ‘People’s Popular Emporium’. It claimed to be the ‘world’s largest sport and athletic outfitter’ and also had a thriving mail order business, publishing a 900-page catalogue in 1911. Besides sporting goods, bicycles, and toys, Gamage sold a wide range of household goods and hardware, including haberdashery, clothing, furniture, gardening supplies, and camping equipment. Gamage was the official supplier of uniforms to the Boy Scout movement and also had a motor department selling motor cars and motorcycles. By 1920 the department store had become known as Gamages. The company continued to trade throughout the 20th century, before finally closing in March 1972.
Francis Barker & Son: were established in Clerkenwell, London in 1848, as a maker of compasses and scientific instruments. For the next 100 years the company was one of the most prominent British scientific instrument makers. Francis Barker was a master craftsman who produced a very wide range of compass designs over the years, supplying major retailers such as Negretti & Zambra, J. Lizars, C. W. Dixey, Casella, Dollond, and many others. Francis Barker died in 1875, but his company prospered until 1932, when it was taken over and became F. Barker & Son (1932). During WW2 the company was a major supplier to the British government, with their iconic Barker Mk III liquid prismatic service compass being standard issue to the armed forces. After WW2 the company changed hands several times, relocating to Edenbridge in Kent in 1961. The business is still based in Kent, and is now owned by Pyser Optics, who continue to produce the renowned Francis Barker M-73, widely acknowledged to be the world's finest prismatic compass.
Samuel Berry Singer (1796 - c.1875) was a master mariner from Southampton. He patented his unique design in June 1861, although he had been working on it since 1853. Its high contrast compass card was intended to be much easier to read in low light than conventional compasses of the time, and was considered to be a significant innovation. It was tested for night use by Trinity House and the Royal Navy. David Livingstone, the celebrated Victorian explorer, used one of Singer's compasses and provided a testimonial in the Negretti & Zambra catalogue for 1864. The administration and licensing of Singer's design and the allocation of the patent serial numbers was handled by Negretti & Zambra. Although his compass was widely adopted by British scientific instrument makers during the second half of the 19th century, Singer himself did not benefit greatly from his invention. The patent lapsed in 1868 when he was unable to pay the stamp duty required for its renewal, and he ended his days living in poverty in Kincardine on the Firth of Forth. Versions of his design continued to be made until after the First World War. Further details of the history of the Singer's Patent compass can be found at the compasscollector.com website, and in Compass Chronicles by Kornelia Takacs (Schiffer, 2010).
Condition:
In very good condition and full working order. The compass finds North very well. The compass case, card and glass are in very good condition. The case would originally have had a bronzed or blackened finish - most of this has worn away from the exterior, but it can still be seen inside the lid.
Dimensions: 50mm diameter x 17mm height
