A rare 17th-Century German silver equinoctial compass sundial,

Details

A rare 17th-Century German silver equinoctial compass sundial,
signed Johann. Wilhelm. Schultze. Kassel. 1688. 51. G:, the hour ring graduated 12 - 12 and pivoted within a C-shaped support hinged to the compass glass bezel, the semicircular gnomon engraved with a sun ray motif and scale [0°] - [90°], rotating 90° within the hour ring and locating in a slit in the support when erected, the compass with engraved rose and later needle, the names and latitudes of 38 cities engraved on the bezel, support, hour ring and gnomon, the dial mounted in a turned wooden base with screw on lid -- 2 3/8in. (6.1cm.) diameter

See Colour Illustration and Detail

Literature

ABELER, Jrgen Meister Der Uhrmacherkunst (Wuppertal, 1977)
ZINNER, Ernst Deutsche Und Niederländische Astronomische Instrumente Des 11.-18. Jahrhunderts (Munich, 1972)

Lot Essay

Schultze's dials are not common: Zinner locates one example dated 1689 with a similar semicircular gnomon in the Kassel Landesmuseum (p. 531), which is also the only example of his work cited by Abeler (p. 574).

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