An antique pedometer by Negretti & Zambra, arguably London’s finest 19th century instrument makers. Housed in a Moroccan leather fitted case with the owner’s initials V.Y.C.G.

The green silk lining is marked in gold with the company’s royal crest and below this “Negretti and Zambra London, 45 Cornhill, 122 Regent St & Crystal Paklace”. The pedometer is in perfect working. The gilt metal casing holds the mechanism which is fronted with a white enamel dial bordered with Roman numerals and a hinged glass front. On the lower edge there are adjusting mechanisms to reset the dial and adjust the speed of the gearing to “S” or “F”. The pedometer as we know it was invented by Thomas Jefferson in 1786 but Leonardo da Vinci and the Romans before him made devices to measure walking distance.

• From the Phisick collection