Accession No

6833

Brief Description

De Rojas plate, purportedly by Robert Proust, French, 1871, but possibly a fake

Origin

Maker

Class

astronomy

Earliest Date

1871

Latest Date

1871

Inscription Date

Material

metal (brass); wood

Dimensions

420mm (diameter), 9mm (height)

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Tesseract July 2025. Purchased by a private individual from a French dealer c. 1990.

Inscription

POLUS ARTICUS
HORA ANTI MERIDIAN
HORA POST MERIDIAN
PLUS ANTARTICUS
PR.71.Paris [on obverse]

R.P
F. AD. 1871 [on brass plaque on reverse]

R.P.
F. AD. 1871 [written in pencil on reverse]

Robert Proust
fecit AD.1871 Paris
Astrolabe de Roias [written in pen on reverse]

Description Notes

De Rojas plate, purportedly by Robert Proust, French, 1871, but possibly a fake.

Circular brass plate on a wooden backing. The brass plate is engraved around the outside with two 0˚ - 90˚ - 0˚ scales. The plate is further engraved with gridlines, and the inscriptions "POLUS ARTICUS", "HORA ANTI MERIDIEN", "HORA POST MERIDIEN", and "PLUS ANTARTICUS". The signs of the zodiac also feature.

In the centre of the plate, there is a damaged screw head, which the tarnishing of the brass suggests used to attach a bridge, which was not present at time of accessioning. There is some decorative elements at the top of the plate, which attach to a ring for hanging or carrying.

The wooden board, on which the brass plate sits, is undecorated. The grain of the wood is very visible, and the other side of the brass screw is holds a brass plaque in place. This is engraved with "R.P.F.AD.1871" (Robert Proust fecit AD1871). The wood itself also features two inscriptions, one in pen and one, much larger, in pencil. The inscription in pen reads "Robert Proust fecit AD.1871. Paris. Astrolabe de Roias". The one in pencil reads "R.P.F.AD.1871", the same as the brass plaque.

References

Events