Skip to main content
Become a member
Donate
Shop
Venue hire
Search
Royal Museums Greenwich
Main navigation
Menu
Royal Museums Greenwich
Search
Close
Plan your visit
Back
Plan your visit
Tickets and prices
Getting here
Accessibility
Family visits
Group visits
School visits
Cutty Sark
Cutty Sark
Open daily 10am - 5pm
Last entry 4.15pm
Adult: £22 | Child: £11
Members go free
Free
National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
Open daily 10am-5pm
Last entry 4.15pm
Free entry
Booking recommended
Free
Queen's House
Queen's House
Open daily 10am - 5pm
Last entry 4.15pm
Free entry
Booking recommended
Royal Observatory
Royal Observatory
Open daily 10am-5pm
Last entry 4.15pm
Adult: £24 | Child: £12
Members go free
What's on
Back
What's on
Planetarium shows
Exhibitions
For families
Member events
Talks and tours
Queen's House
Experiences
Queen's House Classic Treasures Tour with drinks on the balcony
Head to Greenwich for a new refreshing and effervescent tour experience
National Maritime Museum
Exhibitions
Pirates
Explore the myth, discover the truth: Pirates at the National Maritime Museum is now open
Cutty Sark
Experiences
Cutty Sark Rig Climb
Experience life at sea and climb the rigging of one of London's true icons
Stories
Back
Stories
Our Ocean, Our Planet
Guide to the night sky
Museum blog
Turning our view of the world inside out: introducing the new Ocean Map
The National Maritime Museum's Ocean Map reminds us just how much of the Earth is covered by water – and how important the ocean is to our planet
Pirates: fact or fiction?
From buried treasure to walking the plank, how much of what we think we know about pirates is really true?
A whistle for a life: surviving the Titanic tragedy
Meet steward Cecil and passenger Lillian, two young people whose fates intertwined during the sinking of the Titanic
Collections
Back
Collections
Conservation
Research
Donating items to our collection
Collections Online
Search our online database and explore our objects, paintings, archives and library collections from home
The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre
Come behind the scenes at our state-of-the-art conservation studio
Caird Library
Visit the world's largest maritime library and archive collection at the National Maritime Museum
Learn
Back
Learn
School trips and workshops
Self-guided school visits
Online resources and activities
Booking an on-site schools session
Booking a digital schools session
Young people and youth groups
Support us
Back
Support us
Become a member
Donate
Corporate partnerships
Become a patron
Leave a legacy
Commemoration and celebration
Our sites
Cutty Sark
National Maritime Museum
Queen's House
Royal Observatory
Become a member
Donate
Shop
Venue hire
Search
Beta
Back to All Results
Explore our Collection
Objects
Library
Archive
Search our collection
Filters…
Search
Item Category
Select…
Item Category
Item Category
Astronomical and navigational instruments
Astronomical and navigational instruments
Show all
3. Astronomy demonstrated: instruments and models
Astrolabes and quadrants
Celestial navigation
Charting instruments
Compasses
Course, speed and distance indicators
Electronic navigation
Exploring the Arctic
Globes
Globes and globe gores
Herschel family
Meteorological instruments
Optical equipment
Popular Astronomy
Sundials
Telescopes
Telescopes at the Royal Observatory Greenwich
Telescopes Online Gallery
The Herschels as experimenters
The Herschels as instrument makers
The many faces of the telescope
Apply Filter
Apply Filter
Type
Select…
Type
Type
Backstaff
Backstaff, crossbow
Backstaff, crossbow part
Backstaff horizon vane
Backstaff horizon vane, part
Backstaff horizon vein, part
Backstaff shadow vane
Backstaff sighting vane
Backstaff sighting vein
Backstaff sighting vein, part
Backstaff sight vane
Backstaff vane
Backstaff vane, part
Backstaff with artificial horizon
Backstaf vane
Crossbow quadrant
surveying & navigational t&e: backstaff
water transport: sailing vessel ?
Apply Filter
Materials
Select…
Materials
Materials
bone
boxwood
brass
brass, grenadilla wood,
glass
ivory
ivory (CITES), lignum vitae
labernum
lignum vitae
liquid
metal
metal: brass
organic: wood: boxwood
organic: wood: lignum vitae
wood
wood: boxwood
wood: lignum vitae
wood: pearwood
Apply Filter
Display Location
Select…
Display Location
Display Location
Display - Atlantic Gallery
Display - ROG
Display - Tudor and Stuart Seafarers Gallery
Not on display
Apply Filter
Creator
Select…
Creator
Creator
Bellinger, John
Elton, John
Garner, Will
Gilbert & Sons
Gilbert, John
Henry Hughes & Son Ltd
Macy, Benjamin
National Maritime Museum
Parker, S.
Patrick, John
Sisson, Jonathan
Tuttell, Thomas
Unknown
Varrall, Reg
Wright, William
Apply Filter
Places
Select…
Places
Places
Bristol
England
London
Unknown
Apply Filter
Vessels
Select…
Vessels
Vessels
Jester fl.1981
Apply Filter
Exhibition
Select…
Exhibition
Exhibition
Exploration and Cultural Encounters
Ships, Clocks & Stars: The Quest for Longitude
The Atlantic: Slavery, Trade, Empire
Time and Longitude
Apply Filter
People
Select…
People
People
Austin, James
Davies, John
Money, B.
Norman, J
Richey, Mike
Varrall, Reg
White, Thomas
Apply Filter
Century
Select…
Century
Century
17th
18th
20th
unknown
Apply Filter
Date Range
Select…
Date Range
Date From
Select...
1690
1700
1703
1720
1732
1734
1737
1740
1750
1755
1954
1981
Date To
Select...
1700
1703
1710
1720
1730
1732
1734
1737
1740
1750
1755
1954
1981
Apply Filter
Show only:
With images
Applied Filters
Backstaff
Clear all
showing 29 objects results
Sort by
Relevance
Object title/name
Object title/name (desc)
Finding reference
Finding reference (desc)
Backstaff horizon vane, part
Backstaff vane, part
Backstaff
Backstaff
Backstaff
Backstaff
Backstaff, crossbow part
Backstaff vane
Backstaff, crossbow part
Backstaff, crossbow part
Backstaff vane
Backstaff
Backstaff
Backstaff
Backstaff
Backstaff
Backstaff
Backstaff with artificial horizon
Backstaff shadow vane
Backstaff sighting vane
Backstaff
Backstaff, crossbow part
Backstaff
Crossbow quadrant
First
Prev
Current page
1
Page
2
Next
Last
Loading filters
Royal Museums Greenwich
Close
Search
Want to search our collection? Search here.
Back To Top