Accession No
0756
Brief Description
horizontal dial
Origin
Maker
Class
dials
Earliest Date
Latest Date
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass, steel, pewter); glass
Dimensions
length 75 mm; breadth 54 mm; thickness 13 mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased from M. Gardner, London, England.
Inscription
Description Notes
Octagonal brass base plate standing on compass box and a single foot; pewter compass box with very crude 8-point rose; steel needle (detached; 1-2-2000); hour plate divided IV - XII, I - VIII, numbered by I, subdivided to 30 minutes by a *; folding fixed gnomon, crudely engraved.
Condition: fair (compass needle detached); complete.
References
Events
Description
The horizontal dial is the most common form of sundial. The portable version proved very popular with the upper classes during the 19th Century. During this period it could best be described as the wristwatch of its day.
The hour lines are engraved onto a horizontal surface, with a gnomon (pointer) in the centre. Seasonal variations (caused by the earth’s orbit being elliptical, not circular) have to be compensated for, as they can affect the raw reading by up to 18 minutes.
18/10/2002
Created by: Saffron Clackson and Boris Jardine on 18/10/2002
FM:43301
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