This sundial seems too fanciful to me, with the ship, the Latin motto, and the 
green foliage (that looks like a dancing cactus to me!) to be an actual copy of 
an earlier one.   It is 20th century, but I don’t know from the photos if it is 
circa 1920.   It could be some sort of souvenir from a museum shop.

By the way, plumb-bobs with little storage holes are found on some ivory 
diptych sundials of the 16th century and later.

Cheers,
Sara

Sara J. Schechner
Altazimuth Arts
42°36'N   71° 22'W
West Newton, MA 02465
http://www.altazimutharts.com/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://www.altazimutharts.com/&k=AjZjj3dyY74kKL92lieHqQ%3D%3D%0A&r=Y3uaNkd%2BN%2BBEMo7BAxbEQqOqpMk6uxYnCJsB4uxugzo%3D%0A&m=Ti1oQOLKwbdeBp0MOcYibsxY4Lg058dCGKYBaRLSNUY%3D%0A&s=2f04b2f3647abf5da1ada6decaf1b455ea2d0ead01efe881489e14a7d1adb139>

Sara J. Schechner, Ph.D.
David P. Wheatland Curator of the Collection of Historical Scientific 
Instruments
Lecturer on the History of Science
Department of the History of Science, Harvard University
Science Center 251c, 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617-496-9542   |   Fax: 617-495-3344
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> |@SaraSchechner
http://scholar.harvard.edu/saraschechner
http://chsi.harvard.edu/



From: sundial [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dan-George Uza
Sent: Monday, February 20, 2017 9:58 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Genuine or not?

Hello!

There's a diptych sundial on sale for about 80 euros supposedly dating from 
1920.

Do you think this is genuine? I think it is a modern replica.

http://anticariatulnou.ro/diverse/antichitati-artizanat-colectionabile/cadran-solar-cu-busola-antica-din-lemn-diptic.html<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__anticariatulnou.ro_diverse_antichitati-2Dartizanat-2Dcolectionabile_cadran-2Dsolar-2Dcu-2Dbusola-2Dantica-2Ddin-2Dlemn-2Ddiptic.html&d=CwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=7ZsgDX5inZSMERqhZEQacOtdADP0iy6-YB7dx6Z_mVo&m=YBgn1OeBCkclTV2M7oBZV2P0N7zfBOSHCp10ax7IRyY&s=7HX-G9ZU0F53s7AvhZfQZ4OeXbIpswoiu7Ur_1lWhAs&e=>

The string does not seem to be adjustable for latitude, I see only one hole 
(it's fixed at 42 deg.). Why then go through the trouble of printing the 
latitudes for European cities on the back?

One thing I find interesting is the plumb bob and the orifice on the vertical 
plate. I think it is meant to align the piece to the vertical. I haven't seen 
this before.

Thanks,

Dan Uza
Romania
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