Augsburg-type sundial with Qibla Indicator
Date: 1675-1725
Inventory Number: 7046
Classification: Qibla Indicator
Subject:
Maker: Turkish
Collector: Harrold Edgar Gillingham (1864 - 1954)
Collector: David P. Wheatland (1898 - 1993)
Dimensions:
closed: 1.6 x 7.7 x 7.8 cm (5/8 x 3 1/16 x 3 1/16 in.)
DescriptionThis qibla indicator is fashioned in the form of the type of equatorial (or equinoctial) sundial produced primarily in Augsburg and hence known as an Augsburg-type sundial.
The sundial is made of brass. The base plate is octagonal and rests on two, little turned feet plus the bottom of the compass box. The underside of the base plate and compass box are plain and unpolished, showing off many file marks and some matchmarks.
The compass box is silvered on the inside and has 4 cardinal points labeled in Arabic. In the center is a windrose formed of 8 petals. The blued-steel needle is pointed at the north end and feathered at the south.
At the southern end of the compass box, there is a hinged plumb-bob bracket with a turned bob. The bracket is delicately carved and pierced with scrollwork. A small opening at the tip of the bracket aligns with and affords access to the qibla's pin-gnomon when the bracket is folded down. The foot of the bracket is engraved with Arabic text saying that this is the plumb bob. The spring for the folding plumb-bob bracket (which is underside the base plate) is very simply made with a minimum of ornamental shaping at the each end.
The equatorial ring is hinged to the north side of the base plate, and can be angled with respect to a latitude arm that is hinged on the western side. The latitudes are engraved from 10°-80° every 2° and marked in Hindu-Arabic numerals every 10°. The hour scale is engraved on a the top and inside of the equatorial ring with divisions every 1/2 hour. The top side of the ring is marked with Hindu-Arabic numerals that run from 3-12-9. The space between the 3 and 9 is ornamented with engravings of two simplified plants and a star.
The sundial's gnomon is a pin mounted to the center of a rotating bar that runs diametrically between the 6 o'clock hours. The pin can be positioned parallel to the polar axis and point up or down depending on the season. A brass spring keeps it in place when set.
The hinge for the hour ring shows sign of a soldered repair.
There are matchmarks of I on the hinge for the equatorial ring, the adjacent edge of the base plate, opposite edge by the plumb bob bracket, and the side of the compass box. The matchmark II is cut into the base of the compass box and the underside of the base plate in front of it. This is for aligning the compass within the sundial.
A qibla indicator fills the top of the base plate. It consists of an orthographic projection of the earth with longitude lines inscribed every 10° and marked in Hindu-Arabic numerals from 0°-180°. Latitude lines are inscribed every 10° in the northern hemisphere and divided every 2° in both the north and south around the limb of the projection. The latitude is labeled in Hindu-Arabic numerals every 10° around the limb as well. A rotating pin turns about the point of Mecca in the projection. A small, vertical pin gnomon is at the center of the projection. There is an inscribed scale of 14 parts to the the southeast of it. This is a scale of shadow lengths to be used with the pin gnomon for determining the times of the daily prayers.
Inscriptions around the qibla indicator offer technical information such as "east in summer," "equator," and "line of half day." The only place named on the map is Mecca. Thus a user would need a gazetteer alongside the qibla indicator in order to find the geographical parameters of his current location so that he could find the direction of Mecca from the instrument.
The engraving on the instrument is in nashki style. The numerals are eastern Arabic with an occasional Persian form for five. The spelling and grammar of the instrument point to Ottoman Turkish as the language of potential users of the instrument.
The sundial is made of brass. The base plate is octagonal and rests on two, little turned feet plus the bottom of the compass box. The underside of the base plate and compass box are plain and unpolished, showing off many file marks and some matchmarks.
The compass box is silvered on the inside and has 4 cardinal points labeled in Arabic. In the center is a windrose formed of 8 petals. The blued-steel needle is pointed at the north end and feathered at the south.
At the southern end of the compass box, there is a hinged plumb-bob bracket with a turned bob. The bracket is delicately carved and pierced with scrollwork. A small opening at the tip of the bracket aligns with and affords access to the qibla's pin-gnomon when the bracket is folded down. The foot of the bracket is engraved with Arabic text saying that this is the plumb bob. The spring for the folding plumb-bob bracket (which is underside the base plate) is very simply made with a minimum of ornamental shaping at the each end.
The equatorial ring is hinged to the north side of the base plate, and can be angled with respect to a latitude arm that is hinged on the western side. The latitudes are engraved from 10°-80° every 2° and marked in Hindu-Arabic numerals every 10°. The hour scale is engraved on a the top and inside of the equatorial ring with divisions every 1/2 hour. The top side of the ring is marked with Hindu-Arabic numerals that run from 3-12-9. The space between the 3 and 9 is ornamented with engravings of two simplified plants and a star.
The sundial's gnomon is a pin mounted to the center of a rotating bar that runs diametrically between the 6 o'clock hours. The pin can be positioned parallel to the polar axis and point up or down depending on the season. A brass spring keeps it in place when set.
The hinge for the hour ring shows sign of a soldered repair.
There are matchmarks of I on the hinge for the equatorial ring, the adjacent edge of the base plate, opposite edge by the plumb bob bracket, and the side of the compass box. The matchmark II is cut into the base of the compass box and the underside of the base plate in front of it. This is for aligning the compass within the sundial.
A qibla indicator fills the top of the base plate. It consists of an orthographic projection of the earth with longitude lines inscribed every 10° and marked in Hindu-Arabic numerals from 0°-180°. Latitude lines are inscribed every 10° in the northern hemisphere and divided every 2° in both the north and south around the limb of the projection. The latitude is labeled in Hindu-Arabic numerals every 10° around the limb as well. A rotating pin turns about the point of Mecca in the projection. A small, vertical pin gnomon is at the center of the projection. There is an inscribed scale of 14 parts to the the southeast of it. This is a scale of shadow lengths to be used with the pin gnomon for determining the times of the daily prayers.
Inscriptions around the qibla indicator offer technical information such as "east in summer," "equator," and "line of half day." The only place named on the map is Mecca. Thus a user would need a gazetteer alongside the qibla indicator in order to find the geographical parameters of his current location so that he could find the direction of Mecca from the instrument.
The engraving on the instrument is in nashki style. The numerals are eastern Arabic with an occasional Persian form for five. The spelling and grammar of the instrument point to Ottoman Turkish as the language of potential users of the instrument.
Signedunsigned
Historical AttributesThe marriage of an eastern instrument such as a qibla indicator with a western sundial offers several possible explanations for the origin of the object.
(a) It could have been made solely by a western instrument maker for a customer in Islamic society. This seems not to be the case here. The quality of the Arabic engraving and Turkish spellings indicate that an engraver from an Islamic country, perhaps the Ottoman Empire, must have been involved in the production.
(b) It could have been made by an Augsburg maker in collaboration with an Arab or Turkish engraver living in Europe (by choice or as a prisoner of war). The problem with this explanation is that the workmanship and stylistic details of the instrument suggest a non-native (i.e., non-Augsburg) maker.
(c) It could have been made by an Arab or Turkish maker in an Ottoman city. While this is most likely the case, we must acknowledge that (according to David King) no instrument known to have been fabricated in an Islamic society has ever had an octagonal plate. Thus, the maker of this qibla indicator was likely encouraged to follow the Augsburg pattern in order to satisfy a customer's taste for the exotic.
(a) It could have been made solely by a western instrument maker for a customer in Islamic society. This seems not to be the case here. The quality of the Arabic engraving and Turkish spellings indicate that an engraver from an Islamic country, perhaps the Ottoman Empire, must have been involved in the production.
(b) It could have been made by an Augsburg maker in collaboration with an Arab or Turkish engraver living in Europe (by choice or as a prisoner of war). The problem with this explanation is that the workmanship and stylistic details of the instrument suggest a non-native (i.e., non-Augsburg) maker.
(c) It could have been made by an Arab or Turkish maker in an Ottoman city. While this is most likely the case, we must acknowledge that (according to David King) no instrument known to have been fabricated in an Islamic society has ever had an octagonal plate. Thus, the maker of this qibla indicator was likely encouraged to follow the Augsburg pattern in order to satisfy a customer's taste for the exotic.
Curatorial RemarksReading of Arabic script done by Sonja Brentjes in 2007. Comments by David King, February 2008.
ProvenanceMercator (Gertrude Hamilton), Paris, before 1929; Harrold E. Gillingham Collection, 1929 (inv. no. 3); David P. Wheatland, Topsfield, MA, 1949; gift to CHSI, c. 1985.
Published ReferencesElio Brancaforte and Sonja Brentjes, From Rhubarb to Rubies: European Travels to Safavid Iran (1550-1700) (Houghton Library exhibition catalogue, forthcoming, 2008), item 13.