made in Nuremburg, Germany
000-190-001-020-C
© National Museums Scotland |
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Diptych sundial (closed)
Diptych sundials have two plates hinged together, and in use open out to form a right angle, with the string hinge operating as a gnomon. This ivory example (pictured here closed) was made in 1617, by Lienhart Miler of Nuremburg in Germany.
The photograph shows the outside of the lid, which has a wine rose with 16 directions labelled in German, and a sun-face motif at the centre. The wind vane is missing.
Many diptych sundials were designed to give a wind direction, because often this dictates prevailing weather conditions, especially in the middle of a large land-mass, such as Europe.
Record details
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| Online ID: |
000-190-001-020-C |
| Image Rights Holder: |
National Museums Scotland |
| Project: |
0098: National Museums Scotland
Project description | View all records in project |
| Ref: |
National Museums Scotland T.1924.10 |
| Date: |
1617
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| Material: |
Ivory, inlaid metal. Inscription: [On base] Italian and Babylonian hours; [inside lid] length of days
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| Dimensions: |
3.63" x 2.25"
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| What: |
Sundial, portable
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| Subject: |
20. TIME MEASUREMENT, Sundials (Departmental Classification)
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| Who: |
Lienhart Miler, Nuremburg (Sundial maker)
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| Where: |
Germany, Nuremburg
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| Event: |
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| Description: |
Portable sundial in ivory, book form, base with sunk compass and engraved with a horizontal dial and Italian and Babylonian hours, made by Lienhart Miler, Nuremburg, 1617
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| References: |
- For a comparable example, see Lloyd, Steven A., Ivory Diptych Sundials 1570-1750. London & Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard, 1992. p 68
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| Translations: |
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| Related Records: |
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