GEORGE BASS (1771-1803) A late-18th-century lacquered pocket brass compass sundial signed on the hour ring Dollond London. Provenance : George Bass (1771-1803, by descent (with note in case "compass, with which George Bass discovered Bass' Straits, in a boat with 4 men from the "Reliance" (Capt. Waterhouse.)". A HIGHLY IMPORTANT RELIC FROM THE FINAL CHAPTER IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF COASTAL AUSTRALIA, used by Bass on his historic voyage which led to the acknowledgment that Van Diemen's Land was an island. With this confirmation of the existence of the Bass Strait, and Flinders's circumnavigation of the continent, an episode in the exploration of Australia came to an end. All important subsequent exploration would concentrate on the interior of the vast continent. Bass arrived at Port Jackson on 7 September 1795, and soon carried out a series of minor exploratory trips, until the "wreck of the Sydney Cove on Preservation Island... revived discussion on the possibility of a strait between New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land, a subject dear to Bass's heart. He was granted permission to explore the southern coast and given a well filled whale-boat, 28 feet 7 inches long, built in Sydney of native banksia timber. In this open boat with six volunteers and six weeks provisions he left Port Jackson on 3 December 1797. In the next eleven weeks, despite boisterous weather, he travelled some 1200 miles, found the Shoalhaven River, Twofold Bay, Wilson's Promontory and the Western Port and deduced from the great swell and the direction of the tides that a strait separated the mainland from Van Dieman's Land": ( DAB ). The Dollond family were active as makers of optical, navigational and scientific instruments from the middle of the 18th-century onwards. Peter Dollond (1730-1820) and his brother John were active (in a business sense) between 1766 and 1804 and are therefore the probable suppliers of Bass's compass. They were known chiefly for their optical instruments and supplied telescopes for James Cook's second voyage.
GEORGE BASS (1771-1803) A late-18th-century lacquered pocket brass compass sundial signed on the hour ring Dollond London. Provenance : George Bass (1771-1803, by descent (with note in case "compass, with which George Bass discovered Bass' Straits, in a boat with 4 men from the "Reliance" (Capt. Waterhouse.)". A HIGHLY IMPORTANT RELIC FROM THE FINAL CHAPTER IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF COASTAL AUSTRALIA, used by Bass on his historic voyage which led to the acknowledgment that Van Diemen's Land was an island. With this confirmation of the existence of the Bass Strait, and Flinders's circumnavigation of the continent, an episode in the exploration of Australia came to an end. All important subsequent exploration would concentrate on the interior of the vast continent. Bass arrived at Port Jackson on 7 September 1795, and soon carried out a series of minor exploratory trips, until the "wreck of the Sydney Cove on Preservation Island... revived discussion on the possibility of a strait between New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land, a subject dear to Bass's heart. He was granted permission to explore the southern coast and given a well filled whale-boat, 28 feet 7 inches long, built in Sydney of native banksia timber. In this open boat with six volunteers and six weeks provisions he left Port Jackson on 3 December 1797. In the next eleven weeks, despite boisterous weather, he travelled some 1200 miles, found the Shoalhaven River, Twofold Bay, Wilson's Promontory and the Western Port and deduced from the great swell and the direction of the tides that a strait separated the mainland from Van Dieman's Land": ( DAB ). The Dollond family were active as makers of optical, navigational and scientific instruments from the middle of the 18th-century onwards. Peter Dollond (1730-1820) and his brother John were active (in a business sense) between 1766 and 1804 and are therefore the probable suppliers of Bass's compass. They were known chiefly for their optical instruments and supplied telescopes for James Cook's second voyage.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
