Accession No
1688
Brief Description
ivory diptych dial, made by Paul Reinmann, 1608
Origin
Nuremberg (Nürnberg); Germany
Maker
Reinmann, Paul
Class
dials
Earliest Date
1608
Latest Date
1608
Inscription Date
Material
ivory; metal (brass, steel); glass; rope (string); cloth (velvet); fishskin (shagreen); wood
Dimensions
box length 124mm; breadth 110mm; thickness 24mm dial length 110mm; breadth 90mm; thickness 16mm; height when open 112mm
Special Collection
Holden-White collection
Provenance
On loan from The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. Donated by Charles Holden-White to the Fitzwilliam Museum. Holden-White collection no. 1935-42.
Inscription
‘SOLI DEO GLORIA
PAULUS REINMAN PR NORMIBERGAE FACIEBAT’
Description Notes
Rectangular ivory diptych dial with brass fittings.
Leaf Ia: windrose with 32 points, 16 named and each point subdivided to 1/4. Brass index arm with hand and finger pointer. Four edges of leaf marked with cardinal points in Latin. Pierced to show N point of compass; foliage decoration in corners.
Leaf Ib: vertical dial (pin gnomon missing) for length of day, divided 8 - 16, numbered by 1 and marked with zodiac symbols; also vertical dial (pin gnomon missing) for unequal hours, divided 1 - 12, numbered by 1. Attachment points for string gnomon for 54, 51, 48, 45, 42 and 39˚ N. List of towns and latitudes (see history file).
Leaf IIa: horizontal dial with scales for 54, 51, 48, 45, 42 and 39˚ N; dividied 4 - 12, 1 - 8, numbered by 1, subdivided to 15 minutes. Within this dial is a concave scaphe dial for Babylonian and Italian hours, divided 1 - 16 and 9 - 23, numbered by 1. Foliage decoration. Inset compass offset for magnetic variation 5˚ E of N.
Leaf IIb: lunar volvelle with gilt-brass disc. Lunar day calendar with associated time correction scales in minutes ‘M’ and seconds ‘S’ from 48 seconds at days 1 and 29 to 12 mins 12 seconds at day 15. Scales of epacts for 1608-26 for both Julian and Gregorian calendars. 4 brass feet. Foliage decoration.
Compartment for wind vane.
18th-C wooden box covered in unpolished shagreen and lined with red velvet (very worn); brass hinges and hook fasteners.
fair condition (box fair)
References
Events
Description
The Diptych dial is a common form of portable multi-function sundial. Diptych dials were made popular by the instrument makers in Nuremberg during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They are usually made of ivory with brass fittings, and are often elaborately decorated. The name of the device derives from the Greek diptychos for a pair of folding writing tablets, which the instrument resembles.
Diptych dials consist of two leaves hinged together, with a string ‘gnomon’ stretched between the inner surfaces of the leaves for casting a shadow. To use the device as a sundial the lower leaf must be placed parallel to the horizon and the upper leaf must be at a right angle vertically to it. The gnomon must then be aligned with the meridian of the place where it is being used by using the inbuilt magnetic compass. Time can then be read from the horizontal or vertical dial by the location of the shadow cast by the string gnomon.
In addition to the horizontal and vertical dials, diptych dials normally carry a number of other features, such as equinoctial dials, windroses, tables of latitude for adjusting the string gnomon for different locations, epact tables, lunar volvelles for telling time at night by the moon, and various pin-gnomon dials for telling the time according to Babylonian or Italian hours, or for calculating the position of the Sun in the zodiac.
27/05/2009
Created by: Joshua Nall on 27/05/2009
FM:39762
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