Accession No
0855
Brief Description
horizontal dial, by H. L., German, 1685
Origin
Germany
Maker
H. L.
Class
dials
Earliest Date
1685
Latest Date
1685
Inscription Date
1685
Material
metal (gilt brass, steel)
Dimensions
64 x 69 mm; d (compass) 42 mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased by Robert Stewart Whipple from Landau in 12/1937.
Inscription
‘HL
1685’ (base of compass)
Description Notes
Gilt brass; on the lid a perpetual calendar with index arm for months ‘IAN: /31, FEB: /28/B29/.....’ and a wheel of dates 1 to 31 by 1 with associated scale of dates by sign. In the fully opened lid a horizontal dial with short folding style; calibrated 4-12-8 by 1 and marked ‘51: GR’; with hyperbolic lines for position of sun in the ecliptic, by zodiacal sign from ‘II Tropicus Cancri’; in the base an inset compass calibrated 1-12 x 2 by 1 anticlockwise to 1/8 with 4 cardinal points ‘SE, OC, ME, OR’ and in opposite sectors ‘FLACH, SPAHT, MORGEN, STEHEND’ (needle a replacement). On each side of the base plate a linear scale (0)-15 by 1 to 1/4.
good condition
compass does not work
References
Events
Description
The horizontal dial is the most common form of sundial. The portable version proved very popular with the upper classes during the 19th Century. During this period it could best be described as the wristwatch of its day.
The hour lines are engraved onto a horizontal surface, with a gnomon (pointer) in the centre. Seasonal variations (caused by the earth’s orbit being elliptical, not circular) have to be compensated for, as they can affect the raw reading by up to 18 minutes.
18/10/2002
Created by: Saffron Clackson and Boris Jardine on 18/10/2002
FM:39842
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