Accession No
1677
Brief Description
ivory diptych dial, made by Hans Tucher, circa 1600
Origin
Nuremberg (Nürnberg); Germany
Maker
Tucher. Hans
Class
dials
Earliest Date
1600
Latest Date
1600
Inscription Date
Material
ivory; metal (brass, steel, gilt-brass); glass; rope (string)
Dimensions
length 114; width 70; depth 13mm; height when open 118mm
Special Collection
Holden-White collection
Provenance
On loan from The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. Donated by Charles Holden-White to the Fitzwilliam Museum. Charles Holden-White collection no. 1935-31.
Inscription
‘HANS DVCHER ZV NVRNBERG’
Description Notes
Ivory with brass fittings.
Leaf Ia: ‘DISEN CAMPAST KAN MAN BRAVCHEN IN ALLELAND C. JEY TAG... UND NACHT DEN FADEN THV IN DAS LOCH DES LANDS POLUS’. Lunar volvelle with calendar and degree scale divided [0] - 360˚, numbered by 10˚; gilt-brass volvelle disc. Four winds depicted in spandrels.
Leaf Ib: pin gnomon dial for day and night hours marked with signs of the zodiac. Attachment points for string gnomon for 42˚, 45˚, 48˚, 51˚ and 54˚. List of towns/regions for each latitudes (see history file).
Leaf IIa: horizontal dial for ‘POLUS 54 GRAD’, ‘POLVS 51’, ‘48G’, ‘45’ and ‘42’. One hour scale divided IIII - XII, I - VIII, numbered by I; all others divided 4 - 12, 1- 8, numbered by 1. Winds depicted at four corners. Inset compass with 32 points, 16 named; marked for magnetic variation at 10˚ E with later and cruder line at 12˚ W. Horizontal pin gnomon dial for Italian hours (divided 9 - 23, numbered by 1) and length of day ‘TAGLENG’, divided 8 - 16, numbered by 1.
Leaf IIb: marked ‘WEN ICH COMPAST RECHT SOL WEISSEN SO RICHT MICH NICHT BEI EISSEN.’ Also maker’s mark twice (serpent) and stamp of quality.
fair/poor condition, ivory has small cracks
glass chipped
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:39765
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