Horizontal sundial

Add to album

This brass horizontal sundial was made in Paris around 1725 by Nicholas Bion (c.1652-1733), scientific instrument maker to the French king.

The dial is engraved 'Pour 48 degrez 51 minutte' - the angle of the folding gnomon and the latitude of Paris - and is signed 'N.Bion A Paris'. There is a compass with 4 cardinal points and the chapter-ring is engraved with the hours from 4am to 8pm.

While Bion's colleagues tended to be specialists in the making of globes, sundials, mathematical instruments or mechanical devices, Bion could produce all of these items, at a very high standard. He was also author of important texts on instruments.

Record details

To search on related items, click any underlined text below.

• Online ID: 000-100-102-670-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1923.26
• Date: Around 1725
  c. 1725
  
• Material: Brass. Inscription: Pour 48 degrez 51 minutte
  Sundial, portable / box, compass
  
• Dimensions: 6.75" x 6.75"
  
• What: Sundial, portable / box, compass
  
• Subject: 20. TIME MEASUREMENT, Sundials (Departmental Classification)
  
• Who: Nicholas Bion, Paris (Sundial maker)
  
• Where: France, Paris
  
• Event:
• Description: Portable sundial of brass, marked "Pour 48 degrez 51 minutte", with a compass box which has been added at a later date, by Nicholas Bion, Paris, c. 1725
  
• References:
  • For Bion's life and work, see Daumas, M., Scientific Instruments of the 17th and 18th Centuries and their Makers. London: 1972, pp 79-81 
• Translations:
• Related Records: