Lot 170

Leonhart Miller, Nürnberg, 65 x 105 x 13 mm, dated 1642
A portable folding ivory equatorial sundial
Case: ivory. A round horizontal dial on an ivory baseplate with hour division encloses an inset compass, underneath are variations for the hours such as "Die Welsch Vhr" (foreign time) and "Die Grose Vhr" (the hours). The back shows a volvella of the moon. The inside of the hinged cover is engraved with a polychrome vertical dial for normal hours, with signs of the Zodiac and length of the day as well as a table with the latitudes of 20 towns. The outside shows an intricately engraved compass rose with pointer and has a window for the compass. The gnomon is a - here missing - piece of string spanning between the two plates; different pole heights can be set by feeding the string through one of three holes in the lid. The baseplate has a small compartment on the left side that can be covered with a small brass lid - probably intended for keeping spare parts such as pieces of string.
Leonhart Miller was born before 1580 and died after 1652. He usually signed his work with his master’s mark, a heraldic lily and added the year the piece was created; from the signed pieces we can assume that he was active from 1602 to 1651.