Accession No

6145

Brief Description

brass gunter quadrant, by Tho Poole, English, 1689

Origin

England; Nottingham

Maker

Poole, Tho

Class

astronomy

Earliest Date

1689

Latest Date

1689

Inscription Date

1689

Material

Metal (brass)

Dimensions

diameter 134mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Christie's, South Kensington, London, lot 63, sale on 25/10/2016.

Inscription

‘Tho Poole Nottingham 1689’ (obverse)

Description Notes

Highly ornate brass gunter quadrant; English, signed Tho. Poole, 1689.

Obverse:
Signature and date at the apex, above a perpetual calendar. 4 curved scales of the months, divided to the day, alternately shaded. Scale labelled ‘Suns Declin’ 0-24, numbered by 10, divided to 1. Logarithmic scale 0-90, numbered 7,8,9,10,11,12,10,30,40,50,60,70,80,90. Gunter-type stereographic projection for ‘ Latitudo 53d: 0’ ‘ Scale of degrees along circumference. Along the righ edge runs a scale for latitude 0-90, numbered by 10; and two pin-hole sights. Along the left edge is a scale labelled hours, numbered 1-6, divided to twentieths.

Reverse:
Volvelle of diameter 89mm engraved with constellations for: Ursa major, Cor Caroli, Leo, Gemini, Auriga, Perseus, Triangulum, Taurus, Pegsus, Draco, Cancer, Virgo, Deneb, Hercules, Cassiopeia, Corona Borealis, after the northern hemisphere of the stars in Sherburne’s Manilius. Calendar in two parts either side of the volvelle for [16]88 to [17]64 in five columns headed ‘An, Go, Sp, Do, Mst’. At the apex sit two astronomers one pointing to a sphere in front of a seated oriental geometer holding a pair of calipers. In the bottom left an astronomer points to a sphere with a stick. In the bottom right an astronomer examines a cube-dial with the hour lines delineated and labelled with their numbers.

Condition: good.

References

Events