Sundial

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This brass horizontal sundial was made around 1825 by Alexander Adie, a scientific instrument maker based in Edinburgh. It was commissioned by a member of the Agnew family of Lochnaw in Wigtownshire, whose heraldic arms are engraved on the dial.

The dial is marked in minutes around the circumference at 10 minute intervals. The eight cardinal points of the compass are marked in a concentric ring inside the hours. The gnomon is set at angle of 55 degrees, the latitude for Lochnaw.

The most likely owner of the sundial is Sir Andrew Agnew, 7th baronet (1793-1849). Agnew was MP for his county of Wigtownshire between 1830 and 1837 and is chiefly remembered for his unsuccessful promotion of Sabbatarian legislation.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-100-102-792-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  T.1981.35
• Date: Around 1825
  c. 1825
  
• Material: Brass. Inscription: A. Adie Edinburgh
  
• Dimensions: 398 mm D
  
• What:
• Subject: 20. TIME MEASUREMENT, Sundials (Departmental Classification)
  
• Who: A. Adie, Edinburgh (Maker)
  Agnew of Lochnaw (Owner)
  Arthur Frank Collection of Scottish Scientific Instruments
  
• Where: Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh
  
• Event:
• Description: Circular horizontal pedestal sundial in brass, signed by A. Adie of Edinburgh, c. 1825
  
• References:
  • Clarke, T.N., Morrison-Low, A.D. & Simpson, A.D.C. Brass & glass scientific instrument making workshops in Scotland as illustrated by instruments from the Arthur Frank Collection at the Royal Museum of Scotland. Edinburgh: NMS, 1989. pp 68-9 
  • T.N. Clarke, A.D. Morrison-Low and A.D.C. Simpson (1989): "Brass and Glass 
• Translations:
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