I have many sets of instruments that have no indication of who made them on either the instruments or the case. In this section I have placed illustrations of some of them in the hope that someone might be able to identify the makers for me. I think it likely that all of these instruments are of foreign (i.e. not British) manufacture. Traditional pattern British instruments were expensive and in the late 1800s and early 1900s there was a ready market amongst students for cheaper alternatives.
In some cases I am pretty sure of the country of origin and there may be several possible manufacturers because they all made similar instruments. In this case it would be useful to have a list of all the possibles.
An unusual pattern.
The inserts in this case fit both compasses and fit over a spigot on the compass or spring bow with a slot around the clamping screw.
This set is typical of these cheap French sets that were sold for use by students. I have three sets of this size and have seen many more. Mostly the instruments are brass (as in this case) but sometimes they are nickel-silver.
This set is made of nickel-silver and is of rather higher quality than most of these sets. The spring bows have ivory handles. I was given this tray of instruments; the rest of the box no longer exists but may have had a maker's name on the lid lining.
This set is made of nickel-silver but is very basic. It is housed in a rosewood veneered pine box and is missing the small compass.
