Dear all,

 

finally, I found the source of that sundial:

It is indeed a kind of  replica, mass produced, probably from india in the
late 19th century. Besides: The wood turned out to be an old ships-plank
which has been conserved by some chemicals. The plate is indeed an modeled
alloy with a mixture that was common in the medieval, obviously to make it
look more “real” But still, for people,  like me, unlettered in antiques, it
appears to be a good fake J

 

The key was an advertisement, made by someone on ebay, with a dial just like
mine with exactly the same plate but, different wood. 

http://www.ebay.de/itm/seltenes-Museumsstuck-sehr-alte-Sonnenuhr-/1406026968
31?pt=Wissenschaftliche_Geräte_1
<http://www.ebay.de/itm/seltenes-Museumsstuck-sehr-alte-Sonnenuhr-/140602696
831?pt=Wissenschaftliche_Geräte_1&hash=item20bc92e47f> &hash=item20bc92e47f

 

Thanks to  all dialist for commenting and helping me on my quest! 

I will keep this family heirloom in my vitrine, even if it’s  worthless in
common sense, it is still a nice decoration and reminder on my
Gran-Granfather

 

Jan Botor

 

 

 

From: John Carmichael [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2011 4:56 PM
To: 'Sundial List'
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: FW: sundial /Jacopo de'Benci

 

Hi Jan- I’m forwarding your letter and my comments to the Sundial List.
Perhaps the sundial experts in our group can help you more than I can!

 

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________________________________________________
_______________________________

 

Hello Dialists:

 

I received this letter inquiring about an old European sundial.  I’m not an
expert on these things, so I’m forwarding the letter to you guys.  I’ve
never heard of the maker- Jacopo de’ Benci  whose name is inscribed on the
dial.

 

Looking at the enlarged photo of it at
http://www.mediadesign.me/pollaiuolo/images/sonnenuhr-jacopo-de-benci-4.jpg 

you can see it has a perpendicular rod gnomon, implying that at first glance
it is a nodus-based design.   But the location of the rod seems to be
incorrectly located at the convergence of the hour lines.  I’m thinking that
this dial was not designed to have a perpendicular gnomon.  It should have
an angled polar axis gnomon (an angled rod or a triangular sheet).  Perhaps
the rod was added to the original attachment hole after the original polar
axis gnomon fell off at an earlier date.

 

Does my analysis seem correct?

 

Please copy your replies to Jan K. Botor at [email protected]

 

 

Thx

 

John C.

 

 

From: info-mediadesign [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2011 2:45 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: sundial /Jacopo de'Benci

 

Dear Mr Carmichael.

 

Mrs. Monika Leonhardt, M.A. (Uhrenmuseum Beyer Zürich) kindly provided me
with your contact details.  

 

I am currently trying to investigate into the origin of this sundial and  I
kindly ask you for your opinion as an expert about  this piece of applied
art and your suggestion if it could possibly be authentic. My personal
opinion is that it is a copy of something made in the 19th Century but I can
not locate anything similar whether in books nor in the whole internet.

 

I put the details that I know, a summary of suggestions I received 3rd hand
and high-resolution pictures at the following link:

http://www.mediadesign.me/pollaiuolo/index.html

 

It is my intention to give it to an department for dendrochronical and
spectroscopic analysis, as I got various  information that differs widely
regarding  the possible age and origin.  It is starting with suggestions,
placing it around the early 19th century and goes as far as it was possibly
an early work by Pollaiuolo at the goldsmith “Ghiberti”  where Jacopo de’
Benci  was apprentice for Metalwork.

That is well a wide range for speculations so, the coming analysis will
place the object in a probable timeframe, I hope . 

 

I want to thank you in advance for your effort and It would be really nice
to hear your opinion and if a scientific analysis would be advisable.

If it is of interest, as  the photographs are may not sufficient  I would be
glad to provide you with the original instrument for further research. 

 

 

With kind regards, 

 

Jan K. Botor

 



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