Dear All, Christie's, the London Auction House, has just announced its December sales listings.
On 3 December, at sale 10482, lot 95 is described as... A MONUMENTAL VICTORIAN STONE MULTI-FACETTED SUNDIAL BY ABEL TURNER, DATED 1850 It is unquestionably monumental. Take a look at the picture at: http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/furniture-lighting/a-monumental-victorian-st one-multi-facetted-sundial-by-5852615-details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID =5852615&sid=cc88adde-5e3f-490a-aeb3-7de9d88f0908 [If my mailer splits this you may have to stick it together again!] I have seen other photographs and above the compass rose is the date 1850 and below there is: ABEL TURNER DIALEST The Christie's spelling DIALLIST may be right but it doesn't look like that to me! This maker is unknown to Jill Wilson but Christie's "Lot Notes" say: An Abel Turner is recorded in the 1851 Census as a stone mason in Wooldale, Yorkshire the same village where the current lot has been in-situ in a private residence. It seems unlikely that this was his only dial; it would have been a quite extraordinary undertaking as a first exercise in dial making! It is possible that the commissioning owner had seen something like it and gave Abel Turner a sketch to copy. That is wild speculation. Does anyone know of a close match somewhere? Oh. If you are thinking of making an offer, the estimate given covers the range 10,000 to 15,000 GBP. It looks to be in good condition for 164-year-old stonework. I have asked for the name of the property and who owned it in 1850 but I have not had an answer! Frank King Cambridge, U.K. --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
