Accession No

0351

Brief Description

horizontal dial, purportedly by Butterfield, but in fact 1/4 18th C with later replacements (including gnomon)

Origin

Maker

Class

dials

Earliest Date

1700

Latest Date

1725

Inscription Date

Material

metal (brass, steel); glass

Dimensions

length 136mm; breadth 136mm; thickness 20mm

Special Collection

Robert Whipple collection

Provenance

Purchased by Robert Stewart Whipple from Antique Art Galleries, Grafton Street, London on 03/08/1927.

Inscription

‘Butterfield AParis
Pour 44 Degrez’

Description Notes

Square plate standing on 4 feet. Hour circle divided IIII - XII, I - VIII, numbered by I, subdivided to 15 minutes. Fixed gnomon; brass tipped with applied brass bird, crudely engraved. Corners of the plate decorated with fine floral engraving. Inset compass with cardinal points marked; half-blued needle (a later replacement?). Scratched onto base a divided circle not graduated but with a pointer, divided into 36 divisions to 1˚ and ‘AINE’.

‘The gnomon is a late replacement incorporating the ‘bird index’ as a redundant design feature. The inset compass bowl is also a replacement. The divisions on the reverse of the dial plate and the index are crude and poorly executed - perhaps in the same hand that botched the gnomon replacement.’ (catalogue)
Very faint letters and numbers marked inside the circle on the base; 25-1-2000.

Condition: fair.

[NOTE: On 15/04/2015 XRF analysis was conducted on this instrument. Results and analyses are given in the ‘Notes’ field.]

References

Events