Accession No
0784
Brief Description
Ptolemaic armillary sphere, by Richard Glynne, English, 1715 (c)
Origin
England; London; Cheapside; Atlas & Hercules
Maker
Glynne, Richard
Class
astronomy; demonstration
Earliest Date
1715
Latest Date
1715
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass, silver, steel); glass
Dimensions
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased from Percy Webster, London, England, on 17/06/1935.
Inscription
‘Rd Glynn fecit Cheapside LONDON’ (compass plate)
Description Notes
Ptolemaic armillary sphere, by Richard Glynne, English, c. 1715.
Brass and silver. Brass sphere; solstitial colure; equinoctial colure, marked ‘Colurus Æquinoctorium’, divided 90 - 0 - 90 - 0 - 90, numbered by 10˚, subdivided to 1˚. Arctic Circle marked ‘Arcticus’; Tropic of Capricorn; equator divided 0 - 360˚, numbered by 10˚, subdivided to 1˚; Tropic of Cancer, marked ‘Tropicus Cancri’; Antarctic Circle. Brass axis with a central brass earth. brass meridian circle divided 90˚ - 0 - 90˚ and 0 - 90˚ - 0, numbered by 10˚, subdivided to 1˚. Silver hour circle divided I - XII, I - XII, numbered by I, subdivided to 15 minutes with pointer. Silver ecliptic circle divided 0 - 30˚ for each sign, numbered by 10˚, subdivided to 1˚. Calendar, signs and names of the zodiac. Inside sphere, plate made up of brass and silver rings in plane of the ecliptic. Thin brass rings revolve with planets on rods attached to them. 3 in all. Small ‘handles’ opposite planets turn the rings. The whole sits in brass and silver stand and moves into any plane. Silver horizon circle divided 0 - 30˚ for each sign, numbered by 10˚, subdivided to 1˚, with calendar, signs of zodiac and 0 - 90˚ - 0 - 90˚ - 0, numbered by 10˚, subdivided to 1˚. Ornate legs with compass set in plate below sphere; blued steel needle in glazed bowl with engraved silver rose. 32 compass points on brass plate round edge.
Complete
References
Events
Description
Some armillary spheres were used for observing the heavens and some, like this one, were used for teaching and demonstration. They are made up of the circles or rings (Latin: armillae) that are used by astronomers to describe the night sky. The names of some of these circles might be familiar to non-astronomers because they are also used to divide up the globe: the arctic and antarctic circles; the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, and the equator. This armillary sphere models the universe according to Ptolemaic theory. Ptolemy’s cosmology placed the moon along with Mercury, Venus, the sun, Jupiter and Saturn in orbit around the Earth, which stood at rest at the centre of the universe. Although a sun-centred universe was more widely accepted among astronomers in the 18th century, Ptolemaic armillary spheres such as this one continued to be made and sold. This example was made by Richard Glynne (1681–1755), who apprenticed to the instrument maker Henry Wynne in 1696. In 1705, Glynne became free and opened a workshop in Cheapside in 1712. He continued to work as an instrument-maker until he retired in 1730.
08/07/2014
Created by: Edited by Allison Ksiazkiewicz on 08/07/2014
FM:39716
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