Accession No
1144
Brief Description
imitation astrolabe, possibly Indo-Persian, mid-19th Century or early 20th Century
Origin
India (?); Indo-Persian (?) (Islamic?)
Maker
Class
astronomy
Earliest Date
1850
Latest Date
1930
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass)
Dimensions
length 116 mm; breadth 76 mm; thickness 9 mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Derek de Solla Price, as part of his research into possible fakes in the Whipple collection, wrote to Antique Art Galleries in 1955 asking them to provide details of this object and others’ provenance. Their reply indicated that this object had been acquired at “Christies 24.7.’50”. Donated by Robert S. Whipple in 06/1952. Purchased by Robert S. Whipple from Antique Art Galleries, 16 Grafton Street, at Christie’s London, lot 116 in auction on 24/07/1950.
Inscription
Description Notes
Imitation astrolabe, possibly Indo-Persian; mid-19th century.
Brass planispheric astrolabe, with 4 plates, rete and rule. The rete is purely decorative, with no star pointers. On the reverse are a sinical quadrant, horary quadrant, and shadow square. The object is crudely made and finished.
[NOTE: On 15/04/2015 XRF analysis was conducted on this instrument. Results and analysis are given in the ‘Notes’ field.]
References
Events
Description
An astrolabe is a model of the heavens with the earth placed at the centre. A section of the heavens is projected on to the astrolabe. The co-ordinates of stars and planets are depicted on a grid called the rete. The earth is represented by latitude plates of which there are more than one. This is because the movement of the stars depends upon the latitude of the place from where the observation is made. Cambridge has a latitude of 52°, Rome 42°, Madrid 41°, and Paris 49°. Each latitude plate has circles and lines engraved on them which include the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, the equator and a twilight line. The rete and latitude plates are housed within the mather which has a raised edge called the limb. On European astrolabes the limb is engraved with a degree scale showing 0° to 360° and / or a scale of 24 equal hours.
On the back of the astrolabe are engraved several scales including a calendar scale and a shadow square. On Islamic astrolabes extra scales and tables are engraved for finding the direction of Mecca (for times of prayer). At the back of the astrolabe is also the alidade (see diagram above). The alidade has sights through which an astronomer would take simple observations of the sun or of a particular star, to find the time of day or night. The sights can also be used for finding the heights of buildings, trees or hills.
From display label:
An imitation of an Islamic astrolabe with 4 plates, and a purely decorative rete.
FM:42621
Images (Click to view full size):
