Hi Francesco,
The hour lines and numerals etc appear to be raised from
the surface which suggest to me that this was a cast item. This implies a
complex and expensive 'pattern' from which a sand? mould was made and therefore
unlikely for the production of a single item. Perhaps this was to be made in
quantity for ornamental purposes which did not therefore require a gnomon?
Tony Moss
-----Original Message-----
From: Francesco Caviglia <francesco.cavig...@tin.it>
To: Sundial Mailing List <sundial@uni-koeln.de>
Sent: Tue, 1 Jul 2014 17:07
Subject: A strange dial
Dear friends gnomonist
as members of the editor board of Orologi Solari (www.orologisolari.eu)
me and my collegues were asked by a reader for an help in identifying
the nature and the origin of the object in the attached image.
It is clearly a horizontal sundial, but we were not able to say further more.
For instance to answer the following two questions:
- Why the gnomon (and the gnomon hole as well) is missing?
- Is it an antique object, belonging to a specific style school,
or is it a modern production, possibly influenced by some
specific antique item?
The object, coming from the Firenze zone (Italy) has the wordings:
"Pour 48 Deg 51 Minutes" (the Paris latitude).
and "Butterfield AParis", with the typical ornaments of the signature
Butterfield on the classical sundials by this maker, which are however
completely different.
On the back side there is anything.
The disk diameter is about 8 cm.
At present the kind of metal is not identified
(copper, copper alluy?)
The lines and lettering are all in relief.
A better resolution image is availabe.
For our part, we have never seen a similar object.
Is there someone who can suggest a classification
and the origin for this object?
Thanks to all of you for the attention
and best wishes.
francesco caviglia
Francesco CAVIGLIA
via SAFFI 21
10138 Torino
tel. 011 4333703
mob. 3356121207
francesco.cavig...@tin.it
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