A binnacle is a casing which supports and protects a ship's compass. This carved binnacle, decorated with dolphins, painted white and gilded, comes from the Royal Yacht 'Victoria and Albert' of 1899. It was one of a pair originally carved from solid mahogany for the 'Royal George' yacht. The magnetic compass in the binnacle was made by the firm of Kevin and James White to patent no. 7376, taken out by Sir William Thomson, later Lord Kelvin. The specification included corrector magnets and iron spheres to counteract the effect on the compass of local attraction caused by iron used in the construction of the ship. The compass card has eight parallel needles and is divided both into quarter-points and degrees, arranged as four quadrants of ninety degrees each.