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A rare Marcus Purman gilt and silvered brass tablet sundial/compendium, German, dated 1593,
29 August – 9 September 2025, 12:00 BST
Online, London, Knightsbridge£10,000 - £15,000
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A rare Marcus Purman gilt and silvered brass tablet sundial/compendium, German, dated 1593,
stamped *M*P* 1593, the diptych dial with string gnomon for fixed latitude supported by hinged vertical stand with plum-bob, silvered bras hour scale with inset compass rose, the lid with central pointer and two 1-12 scales together with wind directions, the outside of the case delicately engraved on all faces with leaves and scrolls, the base with apertures for four feet (now missing), when closed 12mm x 38mm x 52mm
Footnotes
Provenance
Sotheby's, London 30th September 1997 lot 23
Private collection
For similar Marcus Purman dial signed with initial M P but dated 1597, see The Oxford Museum of the History of Science, inventory no. 42672.
Another example by Purman dated 1590 is illustrated in D & E Delalande, Cadrans Solaires, p.90/91.
Marcus Purman was active between 1588 and 1616 as a clock and sundial maker in Munich where he started as Ulrich Schniep's apprentice.