The sextant has an anodized brass three-circle pattern frame and a wooden handle with an ivorine plate on the back. The tangent screw and clamping screw are on the back of the index arm. The instrument has four green shades, one of which is cracked, and three green horizon shades. Index- and horizon-glass adjustment is made by capped capstan screws.

Attached to the sextant is a magnifier on a 75mm swivelling arm with a frosted glass shade. There is also a threaded telescope bracket in two parts, fitted for correcting collimation error. It has perpendicular adjustment made by a rising-piece and a milled knob. The telescope is 186 mm in length with an inverted image and two parallel cross wires. An extra drawtube is 78 mm long with an inverted image and four cross wires. A second telescope is 82 mm long with an erect image (star finder). The sight-tube is 82 mm in length with two green shaded eyepieces and an adjusting pin. One unidentified part is missing.

The instrument has a polished brass limb with an inlaid silver scale from -5° to 155° by 10 arcminutes, measuring to 123°. The sextant has a silver vernier measuring to 10 arcseconds, with zero at the right.

The sextant is contained in a square fitted wooden box, with a Kew Observatory certificate of examination in the lid, dated December 1898. An inlaid plate is missing from the top of the lid.