Accession No
0272
Brief Description
universal equinoctial ring dial, purportedly by Pierre Lasnier, French, c. 1750, but actually a 20th-century fake
Origin
Maker
fake, unknown maker Pierre Lasnier [purported]
Class
dials
Earliest Date
1900
Latest Date
1925
Inscription Date
Material
metal (silver-plated brass); wood; fishskin (shagreen); cloth (velvet)
Dimensions
length 127mm; diameter 94mm; thickness 7mm case diameter 104mm; thickness 25mm
Special Collection
Robert Whipple collection
Provenance
Purchased by Robert Stewart Whipple from Reginald Flint, London, on 09/07/1926.
Inscription
‘Lasnier AParis’
Description Notes
Universal equinoctial ring dial, purportedly by Pierre Lasnier, French, c. 1750, but actually a 20th-century fake.
Meridian ring divided incorrectly for Northern and Southern latitudes (by co-latitude 0 - 90˚ - 0 by 10˚). Hour ring divided I - XII, I - XII, numbered by I; also 1 - 12, 1 - 12, numbered by 1. Pierced bridge with pinhole gnomon sliding over calendar scale, divided and lettered by month. List of 17 towns and latitudes (mostly French) on meridian and hour rings.
Fitted case wooden covered in black shagreen, lined with red velvet; brass hinge and hook fasteners. Very warped.
Note: the error in calibrating the meridian rings is compounded by the calendar scale which has the vernal equinox at March 10, i.e. for the Julian calendar. Given the list of towns and latitudes this was not made for export to England pre 1752 or one of the Dutch or German Protestant states pre 1700. The calligraphy is not convincing and a forgery is therefore suggested. (from catalogue)
Condition of case - fair
good condition, tarnished
References
Events
Description
The universal equinoctial ring dial was designed by the English mathematician William Oughtred in the first half of the seventeenth century. It could be used at any latitude, so was a popular timekeeper for sailors and other travellers. It was really a much simplified version of the armillary sphere, only keeping the parts which were needed for telling the time.
The universal equinoctial ring dial consists of two rings and a bridging bar inside the inner ring. The outer ring represents a circle passing through the North and South celestial poles. The inner ring is called the ‘equinoctial’ ring because it represents the celestial equator. The bridging bar represents the axis of the world, just as the gnomon on an ordinary horizontal dial does. So the instrument is a very simple model of the heavens.
01/02/2001
Created by: Dr Hester Higton on 01/02/2001
FM:40006
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