Accession No

6635

Brief Description

astronomical compendium, purportedly by Christopher Schissler, 1595, but actually a modern early 20th century fake

Origin

Maker

fake, unknown maker Schissler, Christopher [purported]

Class

astronomy; dials

Earliest Date

1900

Latest Date

1950

Inscription Date

1565

Material

Metal (brass, steel, gold (gilt), other); wood

Dimensions

180mm (width) x 52mm (height) x 180mm (depth)

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Tesseract, Box 151, Hastings on Hudson, New York 10706, U.S.A. on or before 27/03/2017. Catalogue 105, Spring 2017, no. 3.

Inscription

CS
1565

Description Notes

Astronomical compendium, purportedly by Christopher Schissler, 1595, but actually a modern fake, early 20th century

Signed "CS 1595", but actually late 19th or early 20th century. Closed, the body is constructed of wood bound in silver. The top has elaborate symbolism on a silver plaque; the four side panels with Latin phrases, the corners with red enamel panels visible through pierced silver designs. Inside are twin instruments set within blackened wood quartrefoils, with repoussé brass scenes in the spandrels. The first instrument is a horizontal sundial with folding gnomon and inset glazed compass, the second a complex astrolabic calculator with rotating plate, "rete," solar index, and lunar index with aspectorium. Replica hallmarks on the silver. Craftsmanship is very elaborate but of medium quality.

This is an apparent copy of an unrecorded compendium. This object was included in a 1985 Italian exhibition on sundials, illustrated and described as a forgery. A very similar one is in the National Maritime Museum collections (item 413 in Higton, Sundials at Greenwich), although constructed without the elaborate case. A third example, at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago (ID #A-7) is similar to this example but with some variation in decoration, and is signed for Hartmann 1558. A date of 1900-1920 is plausible, based on the "Art Deco" style of the angels in the spandrels, and the Greenwich example has been known since at least 1931.

According to Cutcliffe, Roysdon, and Adams, the initials "CS" and the pineapple, which is the emblem of Ausberg, have led to the compendium being attributed to Christophe Schissler - despite the form and decoration having nothing in common with his style.

In fair condition, complete.

References

Events