This sextant was issued by the National Maritime Historical Society to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the legendary Cutty Sark tea clipper.
The Cutty Sark is one of the last of the great British clipper ships built to race across the globe from China to London for the tea trade in 1869, before the opening of the Suez Canal created a much shorter route. Cutty Sark went from the tea trade to trading in wool from Sydney to London where she held the record time to Britain for ten years.
This authentic, fully functional, re-creation of a 19th-century sextant is precision engineered in solid brass. It's lavishly accented with 24 karat gold polished by hand to a gleaming finish and enhanced with authentic markings to capture the look and feel of the instrument that inspired it.
The sextant sits atop an ornate model of the historic ship's figurehead and namesake, Cutty Sark, which was the nickname of the witch Nannie Dee in the famed Scottish narrative poem Tam o'Shanter. In the poem, written by Scottish poet Robert Burnes in 1790, the witch Nannie Dee chases Tam o'Shanter, snatching his horse's tail before he escapes by crossing water.
This model was made in 1997 for the National Maritime Historical Society by the Franklin Mint. This item is in mint condition, in it's original box, but it's certificate of authenticity has been lost to time. This piece is guaranteed authentic as are all items in our store.
Dimensions with Base: Length 9 inches, Width 4 and 7/8 inches, Height 7 and 1/2 inches