A rare Pectoral Crucifix Dial,

Details

A rare Pectoral Crucifix Dial,
gilt brass, signed Carolus Platus Fa. Romæ ãno do 1598, 3.1/8in. (8.0cm) long, 1.13/16in. (4.6cm) wide, .5/8in. (1.5cm.) thick.
At the upper end is a hole for attachment to a ring (missing) to hang the crucifix on a chain. This device is in two sections; the upper, thick, part is marked on its outer edges with the hour lines, the ends of the cross providing the gnomons at various stages during the progress of the day. Three hours before and after noon are recorded on the horizontal arm, while the remaining hours of morning and afternoon are recorded on the long arm.
The upper part bears on the front an engraving of Christ on the Cross, with stones below and a banner inscribed INRI above. At the ends of both arms are the initials IHS with a cross above and three arrows below. The top and bottom of the cross are decorated with a four-petalled rose. The underside of the cross is engraved on the appropriate sides: Horæ ante/Pomeridians, referring to the scale on the long arm of the cross.
The lower part, the base, is hinged to the upper, and provides on the inside a small, circular compass box containing a magnetic compass, with a blued iron needle and a glass cover. It is possible that both are original. The base of the compass is marked with the initials of the cardinal points in Italian: T, +, O, P (Tramontana, cross, Ostro, Ponente). The line showing magnetic deviation is about 10° East of North. Adjacent to the compass is a rectangular box with a sliding lid (possibly a replacement) that has on one side inscribed lines of latitude divided to 5° and numbered each 10° to 80° both ways. Some faint scratched numbers are also visible. These lines serve to elevate the upper part to match the equinoctial plane at the latitude required. The other side of the box has the names and latitudes for ten towns, and the two wings either side of the compass have the signature and five more towns. The underside of the base is engraved with forty-nine towns and their latitudes. All the names are in alphabetical order beginning at the top of the underside and ending on one wing on the inside. The outside is worn and the names difficult to read; he inner fifteen are transcribed below.
The box with a sliding lid is intended to hold relics, such as fragments of the bones of saints. All it now contains is a small piece of folded paper with German handwriting in ink, the same message on both sides:
Rom: Ein Pilger-Kreuze. Sonnenuhr, vom Jahre 1598. Geschenk vom Rudolf, der es auf einer Reise in Cöln gekauft hat [Alternative end] ...aus Cöln mitgebracht hat.

Literature

PRICE, D.J., "A Collection of Armillary Spheres and other Antique Scientific Instruments", Annals of Science, 10 (1954), pp.172-87.

Sale room notice

The estimate for this Lot is £4,000 - £5,000.

Lot Essay

Appart from three armillary spheres, nothing is known about this highly skilled maker and this pectoral dial is only the fourth instrument bearing his name that is recorded. The existing armillaries are at the Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence, 1578; the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, 1588; and Bibliotca Barberini, Rome, 1598 (see Price, especiall pp.177-8).

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