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--- Begin Message ---My best guess is that this is a decorative garden ornament which is vaguely akin to an altitude/azimuth sundial using a vertical gnomon with an ‘interesting’ shape. I doubt that it is a serious scientific instrument. There was a variety of firms in the Midlands in the early 20th century making a range of these brass confections. Regards to all, John ——— Dr J Davis BSS Editor http://sundialsoc.org.uk/publications/the-bss-bulletin/ > On 25 Feb 2026, at 18:04, Schechner, Sara <[email protected]> wrote: > > Here are a few thoughts: > > AI is terrible at identifying scientific instruments. A study has just been > published by Pedro M. P. Raposo and Floor Anna Koeleman, “Instruments and the > New Media,” in Forty Years of Scientific Instrument Studies: The Scientific > Instrument Commission, edited by Sara J. Schechner and Richard L. Kremer, > Scientific Instruments and Collections, vol. 11 (Leiden: Brill, 2025). > > It cannot be a fountain because they all have shallow bowls or basins into > which the water falls. Fountains don’t bubble onto flat brass plaques > mounted on flat surfaces. > > The finial is too short to be a surveying marker or alignment device for use > by an observatory. > > I think that the photo does not provide enough information at the present > angle to the object to tell us what it is. As a sundial, part of the gnomon > could be obscured from view or broken off. Given the shape of the upright, > it would not appear to be a vertical gnomon as used on an azimuth or > horizontal pin-gnomon dial. And if the plate were to be equatorially > inclined, it would be an odd choice for a polar-aligned gnomon. > > Cheers, > Sara > > Sara J. Schechner, PhD, FAAS > Curator Emerita, Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard > University > President, International Astronomical Union Commission C3 (History of > Astronomy) > https://saraschechner.scholars.harvard.edu/ > [email protected] > [email protected] > > Altazimuth Arts | Art Quilts and Sundials > https://www.altazimutharts.com > > > From: sundial <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Richard B Langley > Sent: Wednesday, February 25, 2026 9:47 AM > To: lvadillo <[email protected]>; [email protected] > Cc: Sundial Mailing List <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: What kind of sundial is this? > > As to what the highlighted device might be, Google AI suggests it is a garden > fountain with a finial where the water "bubbles" out. I thought it might be a > hill-top marker where the finial might aid the eye in lining up a distant > feature with perhaps the identification of the spot being on the horizontal > plate. Google AI didn't think so, though. > > -- Richard Langley > > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- > | Richard B. Langley E-mail: [email protected] | > | Geodetic Research Laboratory Web: http://gge.unb.ca | > | Dept. of Geodesy and Geomatics Engineering Phone: +1 506 453-5142 | > | University of New Brunswick | > | Fredericton, N.B., Canada E3B 5A3 | > | Fredericton? Where's that? See: http://www.fredericton.ca/ | > ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- > From: sundial <[email protected]> on behalf of lvadillo > <[email protected]> > Sent: February 25, 2026 8:40 AM > To: [email protected] <[email protected]> > Cc: Sundial Mailing List <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: What kind of sundial is this? > > External message: Use caution. > Can you pass de geographical coordinates of such an interesting place? I > would like to locate it accurately. > Regards, Luis > > From: sundial <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Steve Lelievre > Sent: Friday, November 28, 2025 5:25 PM > To: Sundial List <[email protected]> > Subject: What kind of sundial is this? > My wife's sister sent me a photograph of a weird "Sundial Graveyard" that she > encountered while hiking on Dartmoor, England. > > I've uploaded the full photo to https://gnomoni.ca/sundialGraveyard.jpg > > One of the items is shown below. Anyone know what it is? I can't figure out > if it is a sundial or not. > > <image001.png> > > > > Cheers, > > Steve > > > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial >
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