An extremely rare mid 18th-Century French brass astronomical ring dial,

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Details

An extremely rare mid 18th-Century French brass astronomical ring dial,
signed under one of the alidade arms Charot AParis, the meridian ring with sliding throne and suspension loop with scroll-shaped detail, engraved with 0-90° northern and southern latitude scales with 1° subdivisions, the vernier engraved on the throne, further engraved on both sides with latitudes of ten locations: Chandernagore 22° 51'; le Cap de Bonne Esperance 34° 40'; Pondicheri 11° 56'; Agra 26° 40'; Delhy 28° 20'; Surat 21° 10'; Madrast 13° 13'; Siam 14° 15'
Goa 15° 51'; Paris....48°...51'
The equatorial ring with an engraved hour scale of twice 1-12 hours in roman numerals with 5-minute subdivisions, the declination ring engraved with a 90°-0-90° scale and a half-Zodiac scale on each side, the latter with sigils, an alidade on each side each with three pinhole sights, vernier with 0-60 scale in each direction and scroll-shaped decorative support, with blued-steel headed screws thoughout -- 16.5cm. (6½in.) diameter

See Illustrations

Literature

MARCELIN, F., Dictionnaire des fabricants français d'instruments de mesure du XVeau XIXesiècle (Aix-en-Provence, 2004)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

François and Jacques Charot (1732-c.1800) were apprenticed to P.L. Menant in 1747, had a workshop in La Cité in Paris from 1755, and from 1790 worked from the rue Saint Antoine. This fine instrument was evidently made for use on the Indian subcontinent, judging by the latitudes given; Clive's victories over the French in the 1750s, eventually driving them from India, suggest that this dial dates from early in the career of the frères Charot. A plane-table alidade signed by them is held in the collection of the Marseilles Observatory, and a graphometer bearing their name was sold at Drouot in Paris in 1998, but little more is known of their work.

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