The name on the frame was the name of the game at Charles Miller’s (24% buyer’s premium) November 7 auction in west London where a “rather tired and dirty” sextant sold for £28,000.
Marked for renowned London instrument maker Jesse Ramsden, c.1772, the 14½in radius Vernier sextant would have been a desirable object in itself, but another inscription proved crucial: G Vancouver.
On the day, three or four room bidders battled it out (no phones or commission bids were booked, curiously) and it went to the London trade.