Accession No

0564

Brief Description

crescent dial, purportedly German, 18th Century, but actually a 1/4 20th Century fake

Origin

Germany [purported]; England [tentative attribution]

Maker

fake, unknown maker

Class

dials

Earliest Date

1900

Latest Date

1925

Inscription Date

Material

metal (gilt brass, silver); hide (leather); cloth (velvet)

Dimensions

box length 140mm; breadth 133mm; height 61mm

Special Collection

Robert Whipple collection

Provenance

Purchased from Antique Art Galleries, Grafton Street, London, England in 10/1929.

Inscription

Description Notes

Crescent dial, fake, 1/4 20th C.

Gilt brass base plate on 3 feet (2 levelling screws). Hinged hour plate with 2 semicircular silver hour scale divided [III] - XII and XII, I - [IX], numbered by I, divided to 5 minutes. Gnomon sliding over declinations scale, divided to lettered month and zodiac symbol. Latitude arc divided [68˚] - 0, numbered by 10˚, divided to 1˚. List of 10 German and Eastern European towns with their co-latitudes (except Nürnberg which is given as latitude).
Fitted 18th-Century case covered with leather with gold tooling. (Appears to be a perfect fit, but for the lower section it was designed to house a compass, not required on this form of dial.)

‘Ostensibly German, 18th C, but the quality and style of the engraving, plus the use of co-latitudes and the manner of gilding, suggest a reproduction - compare that by H.A. Everard London, Sotheby & Co (1971), lot 81’ (catalogue)

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

References

Events