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  • Augsburg-type sundial with case
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Augsburg-type sundial with case

  • Images (7)

Augsburg-type sundial with case

Date: 1750
Inventory Number: 7044
Classification: Sundial
Subject:
astronomy, time finding,
Maker: German
Collector: Joseph Drecker (1853 - 1931)
Collector: David P. Wheatland (1898 - 1993)
Cultural Region:
Germany,
Place of Origin:
Augsburg,
Dimensions:
open: 3.9 × 4.5 × 5.8 cm (1 9/16 × 1 3/4 × 2 5/16 in.)
closed: 1.5 × 4.5 × 5.8 cm (9/16 × 1 3/4 × 2 5/16 in.)
case: 2.2 × 6.3 × 5.3 cm (7/8 × 2 1/2 × 2 1/16 in.)
Material:
glass, leather, brass, steel,
Accessories: case
Description:
This unusually shaped brass sundial is straight on the hinged side and irregularly curved elsewhere. The dial plate has intricate engravings.

The compass is silvered and divided into four sections which are marked with the abbreviations of the cardinal directions in Latin. Engraved on the compass bowl is an eight-point wind rose and an arrow for magnetic declination at approximately 15° west.

The equatorial ring of this dial has a continuous circular hour scale engraved on the surface, marked 3-12-9, subdivided in half hour increments. At the midnight position, there is engraved scrollwork.The sundial's gnomon is a pin mounted to the center of a rotating bar that bridges the 6 o'clock hours.

The latitude arm is adjustable for northern latitudes from 10° to 90°, calibrated in 2° increments.

The sundial has a fitted pasteboard case that is covered in green leather.

Signedunsigned
FunctionTime-finding by orienting the gnomon to point toward the North Pole with the aid of a magnetic compass and an angular adjustment for latitiude.
Curatorial RemarksChristie's DC830/79
ProvenanceJoseph Drecker, Aachen, Germany, before 1928 (no. 75); Frederik Casparus Wieder, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, 1928; D. P. Wheatland, Topsfield, MA, 1959; gift to CHSI, ca. 1987.

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