Accession No
1182
Brief Description
ring dial, English, 18th Century
Origin
England
Maker
Class
dials
Earliest Date
1700
Latest Date
1800
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass)
Dimensions
diameter 41mm; thickness 11mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Transferred from the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, University of Cambridge (now Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology) in 09/1953.
Inscription
‘SHW’
Description Notes
Brass ring; lacks fixed suspension loop and sliding ring with single pinhole gnomon; ring broken at the suspension loop fixing point. On the outer face of the ring a date scale divided to initialled month, subdivided to 10 days (barely visible, 14-1-2000). On the inner face hour scale divied 4 - 12, 1 - 8, numbered by 1, subdivided to 30 minutes in three bands marked ‘S H W’ with corresponding marking ‘S H W’ on outer face.
Condition: poor.
References
Events
Description
Ring Dial
The ring dial is one of the oldest forms of portable sundial. It was probably developed by the Romans. It is also one of the simplest dials, and was often made very cheaply for the lower end of the market.
Ring dials tell the time from the height of the sun in the sky. They are generally not very accurate. They are used by moving the central band until the pin-hole is lined up against the correct date. After this, the dial is held up and turned until the sunlight falls through the pin-hole onto the hour scale on the other side of the ring. The small circle of light will show the hour, though it is left up to the user to work out whether to choose the morning or the afternoon reading.
FM:41415
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