Augsburg-type sundial
Datecirca 1750
Inventory Number7118
ClassificationSundial
Subject
Maker
Pierre-Rene Clerget
1738 - 1779
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Dimensions2.7 × 11.8 × 8 cm (1 1/16 × 4 5/8 × 3 1/8 in.)
Material
DescriptionThis octagonal brass sundial has an elongated and slightly irregular shape. It has two turned feet at its center, and four leveling-screw feet in the outer corners. The dial plate has the names and latitudes of four cities above the compass, and four below, along with the signature of the maker. There is an adjustable plumb-bob at the southernmost part of the dial plate, with a bob that is attached with string.
The compass is divided by a large, eight-pointed wind rose at the center. The abbreviations for each of the cardinal and ordinal directions are engraved at the tip of each corresponding arm of the rose. Between the glass and the compass itself is a raised dial marking 360° divided into 2° increments. The compass needle is thin with a pierced circle on its southern end.
The equatorial ring of this sundial is a split circle and is engraved on the top surface with an hour scale. The hour scale is marked in Roman numerals III-XII-VIII, with subdivisions every quarter-hour. The inside surface of the ring has an hour scale engraved in Arabic numbers 4-12-8, similarly divided into quarter-hour sections.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 marked on the outer face from 5° to 75° every 10°, and further divided by 2° increments. The opposite side is engraved with the name of the city Jerusalem and its latitude.
The underside of the dial plate is engraved with a gazetteer of 9 cities and their latitudes. Including the cities on the dial plate and latitude arm, this sundial lists 14 cities in total.
The compass is divided by a large, eight-pointed wind rose at the center. The abbreviations for each of the cardinal and ordinal directions are engraved at the tip of each corresponding arm of the rose. Between the glass and the compass itself is a raised dial marking 360° divided into 2° increments. The compass needle is thin with a pierced circle on its southern end.
The equatorial ring of this sundial is a split circle and is engraved on the top surface with an hour scale. The hour scale is marked in Roman numerals III-XII-VIII, with subdivisions every quarter-hour. The inside surface of the ring has an hour scale engraved in Arabic numbers 4-12-8, similarly divided into quarter-hour sections.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 marked on the outer face from 5° to 75° every 10°, and further divided by 2° increments. The opposite side is engraved with the name of the city Jerusalem and its latitude.
The underside of the dial plate is engraved with a gazetteer of 9 cities and their latitudes. Including the cities on the dial plate and latitude arm, this sundial lists 14 cities in total.
Signedon base: Clerget A Paris au Butterfield
Curatorial RemarksAppraisal by Brieux, 9/24/84: $2000
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.
ProvenanceHarrold E. Gillingham, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, purchased in Paris, 1925. David Wheatland purchased from Gillingham, 1949. Donated to CHSI 1985.
Jean-Louis-Jacques Baradelle
Date: circa 1775
Accessories: case
Object number: 7051
Ludovicus Theodatus Müller
Date: circa 1760
Accessories: case
Object number: 7077
Philipp Heinrich Pepfenhauser
Date: circa 1710
Accessories: case
Object number: 7081
