Beaker sundial
A beaker sundial is a sundial whose scale system is applied inside a beaker. She has i. d. Usually a point-shaped ( Nodus ) shadow thrower , which is usually the tip of a stick that is also fixed in the cup.
description
Beaker sundials were particularly popular in the 16th and 17th centuries at royal courts as objects of learned gadgets. In this respect, they were mainly made of noble materials such as gold-plated brass. The outer surfaces and feet could be richly decorated. They were mainly made in southern Germany. Her body was designed both in a round shape and with a hexagonal cross-section.
To be used as a sundial, beaker sundials first had to be oriented north. For this purpose, they were often provided with a compass . Magnificent objects of this kind can be found today, for example, at the British Museum London , the Museum of the History of Science Oxford, the Museum Carolino Augusteum Salzburg, the German Museum in Munich and the Württembergisches Landesmuseum Stuttgart .
Web links
- Beaker sundial by Markus Purmann from 1602. Deutsches Museum, accessed on March 19, 2014 .
- sundial / scaphe-dial / polyhedral dial / compass-dial. British Museum, accessed March 19, 2014 .