000-100-102-704-C
© National Museums Scotland |
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Tobacco box (lid)
This mariner's brass tobacco box, incorporating two navigational aids, was made in the Netherlands in 1792.
The lid of the box (pictured here) has a perpetual calender and portraits of Julius Caesar and Pope Gregory XIII, representing the old and new calender systems. The words 'Reght Door Zee' [Steady over the sea] are engraved on the side of the box.
Invented in about 1750 by a retired Swedish mariner based in Antwerp named Pieter Holm, each box is dated at the end of the perpetual calendar with the final four digits.
Record details
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| Online ID: |
000-100-102-704-C |
| Image Rights Holder: |
National Museums Scotland |
| Project: |
0098: National Museums Scotland
Project description | View all records in project |
| Ref: |
National Museums Scotland T.1966.1 |
| Date: |
1792
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| Material: |
Brass lid. Inscription: Reght Door Zee (engraved on side)
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| Dimensions: |
5.88" L x 1.75" B
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| What: |
Tobacco box / calendar, perpetual
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| Subject: |
20. TIME MEASUREMENT (Departmental Classification)
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| Who: |
Julius Caesar
Miss D. Salveson, Edinburgh (Original donor)
Pieter Holm (Eponym)
Pope Gregory XIII
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| Where: |
Netherlands
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| Event: |
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| Description: |
Pieter Holm's Dutch tobacco box, with a perpetual calendar engraved on the brass lid, and a scale for estimating a ship's speed engraved on the bottom, 1792
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| References: |
- Bennett, J.A., The Divided Circle: A history of instruments for astronomy, navigation and surveying. Oxford: 1987, p 31
- Crone, E. trans. by Bronwer, D., with introductory essay by Pugsley, E., Pieter Holm and his tobacco box. Connecticut: Mystic, 1953
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