Dear Diallists,
As I am the culprit for putting this photograph in the BSS
Bulletin, I feel that I must reply.
Firstly, I had not spotted that the gnomon was reversed. This
may even have been done by Christies if the gnomon had been detached
when they received it.
Looking again at the picture, the hour numerals certainly run
anti-clockwise making it 100% Southern Hemisphere.
It is possible to tell that it is a Horizontal Dial because the
scale extends beyond the 6am / 6pm marks, which it could never do as a
direct south vertical dial. Also the compass can only be read with it
horizontal.
The writing at the bottom is purely a tabulation of the EoT but
in an unusual form. If anyone is interested I can try to copy it. The
words engraved (or stamped or etched) are in a mixture of Spanish? and
English. It is certainly a strange dial and most likely to be fairly
recent. Unfortunately I was not able to view this sale, so my
observations were based solely on the catalogue entry.
Thanks for pointing out the reversed gnomon.
In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Chris Lusby Taylor <Chris.Lus
[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
>The latest BSS bulletin just arrived. The regular article about auctions
>shows a picture of a sundial apparently made for the southern
>hemisphere. It seems to be a brass plate with a gnomon sticking up at
>about 45 degrees and hour numerals increasing anticlockwise.
>
>I noticed that the gnomon had certainly been fitted the wrong way round.
>The style should meet the dial on the 6am/6pm line. It clearly did not.
>
>But with the gnomon the other way round, how can we be sure the dial is
>for the southern hemisphere? Might it not be a vertical, northern
>hemisphere dial rather than a horizontal, southern hemisphere one? There
>seem to be inscriptions, which may well clarify the issue but are
>illegible in the Bulletin. I cannot be sure which way up they are to be
>read, but they seem consistent with this being a vertical dial. I wonder
>how a southern hemisphere dial could end up in an auction in England. It
>seems unlikely.
>
>Chris Lusby Taylor
>51.4N 1.3W
>
>
Regards,
Mike.
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cambridge, UK.
