Italian monks compass with a hinged cover. This compass is assumed to have been used in Florence between 1640 and 1710 as it was found with MSS and other materials of about that date by T K Chambers in 1872. The outside is ornamented, and the bowl is lined with gold. The needle is made in the form of a bird magnetised across its outstretched wings. The bird’s beak points to the East (the direction of the Holy Land). The hinge has been renovated and the disc retaining the element on the pivot is a modern addition.