Accession No
6128
Brief Description
Slate sundial, Polish, C17 or C18
Origin
[Polish]
Maker
Class
dials
Earliest Date
Latest Date
Inscription Date
Material
Slate
Dimensions
Horizontal dial diameter 180mm; height 4mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Bonhams, 101 New Bond Street, Knightsbridge, London, on or before 12/06/2007.
Inscription
Description Notes
Hour scale V-XII-VII, marked in roman numerals. Markings are pale against dark slate
Gnomon missing.
Four holes (two of which are filled in) are at the corners of a quadrangle (almost a square) and were probably for the dial’s stand.
Scene engraved at bottom in slate against pale background: four-storey house with windows; flag atop the main roof and crosses atop the wings; flanked on either side by a line of three stylised trees whose tops are shaped like lime leaves.
Condition: good; slight chipping of the edge between V and VI on the right-hand side.
On reverse side are what appear to be some practice engravings: three leaves, some circles and half-circles, some scribbling.
Identified as Polish by the noted sun-dial specialist and historian of science Tadeusz Przypkowski.
References
Events
Description
The earliest sundial known was found in a tomb in Ireland, believed to have been made around 5000 BC. Other early sundials can be found in obelisks and shadow clocks from ancient Egypt and Babylon. The Greeks developed the sundial, but they were initially based on their Babylonian counterparts. Having discovered the science of geometry, the Greeks were well-positioned to develop sundials. The Romans adopted the Greek sundials, and these sundials were then developed further by the Islamic culture and post-Renaissance Europeans. During the Renaissance, there was an explosion of new styles of sundials, with people, such as Giovanni Padovani, publishing treatise explaining how best to make a sundial.
FM:46597
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