floating sundial
Date1800
Inventory Number7920
ClassificationSundial
Subject
Maker
French
?
Place of Origin
Dimensions3.4 × 5.1 × 5.1 cm (1 5/16 × 2 × 2 in.)
Material
DescriptionFloating Magnetic Dial in medium colored wooden case with cover. Floating magnetic compass card mounted in a turned wooden case with gnomon at an angle of approximately 52°. The chapter ring is printed on the floating compass card with hours marked from IIII to XII to VIII with 15 minute subdivisions. The compass rose is divided into 4 points marked Nord, Ost, Sud and West,circular,Hand painted chapter ring in red, green and yellow.
Curatorial RemarksAlthough unsigned, the style is ver similar to dials made by Stockert, Ernst Christophe 1730-1806 of Nuremberg Germany
FunctionThe local time is indicated by the shadow of a self-orienting gnomon mounted on a magnetic compass card. This design is intended to be used at one specific latitude and magnetic deviation.
ProvenanceHarold Clarence Ernst, MD, Boston, c. 1900-1922 (no. 204); Mrs. Ellen L. Ernst (his widow), Jamaica Plain, MA, 1922; on loan to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1923-1938; gift to Harvard College Observatory, 1938; transfer to CHSI, 1964.
