Sundial

  • Category:

    Clocks, Watches, and Scientific Instruments

  • Creator (Role):

    Nairne and Blunt (Makers)

  • Place of Origin:

    London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

  • Date:

    1774-1793

  • Materials:

    Bronze

  • Techniques:

    Engraved

  • Museum Object Number:

    2019.0039


  • Complete Details



Object Number

2019.0039

Object Name

Sundial

Category

Clocks, Watches, and Scientific Instruments

Credit Line/Donor

Gift of Julia Bissell Leisenring

Creator (Role)

Nairne and Blunt (Makers)
1774-1793
Edward Nairne (1726-1806) was an optician and scientific instrument maker who was involved in electrical experiments and kept a shop at 20 Cornhill, London. Thomas Blunt (d. 1822) was Nairne's former apprentice beginning in 1760. He became a sometime partner in the business between 1774 and 1793. The partnership name may have continued in use by Blunt, this is unclear. Blunt's trade card in the British Museum describes him as a "Mathematical Instrument Maker" at 22 Cornhill in London. Both men were members of the Spectaclemakers' Company. [Source: Nicholas Goodison, English Barometers 1680-1860 (London).]

Place of Origin

London, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Date

1774-1793

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Mark; Surface, top, flanking gnomon head; "NAIRNE & BLUNT LONDON" / LAT\E O/1655" engraved in script

Subjects

Naval history; Slavery; Science

Materials

Bronze

Techniques

Engraved

Dimensions (inches)

2.75 (H) , 8 (L) , 8 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

6.985 (H) , 20.32 (L) , 20.32 (W)

Measurement Notes

Gnomon dimensions: H. 2.5 inches x L. 8.75 inches.

Object Description

Web - 03/18/2020

The weathered patina on the square dial of this London-made sundial testifies to steady service at the Caribbean island of Nevis. The original owners, members of the British Woolward family, acquired it for a sugar plantation. The plantation house was newly built in 1778 and named for Dr. Josiah Nisbet who married Frances Woolward, the orphaned daughter of the planter. Dr. Josiah and Frances Nisbet left Nevis for England, but she returned as a widow with a young son in 1781. Frances Nisbet was then courted by the youthful British Naval officer, Horatio Nelson, and they wed in 1787. She relocated permanently to England, and subsequent nineteenth-century ownership of the plantation needs further research. The sundial likely remained fixed in its outdoor location until 1967.