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Exhibit № 39, Anonymous English, Circa 1727

Exhibit № 39, Anonymous English, Circa 1727

A very good George II solid silver circular, four-sided perpetual calendar composed of two interlocking discs

£30,000


Height

2.4 inches (62 mm) diameter

Provenance

Sotheby’s London, 23rd July 1973, lot 164;
Sotheby’s London, 21st Oct. 1974, lot 280;
Sotheby’s London, 30th May 2002, lot 29, sold for £31,346;
John C Taylor Collection, inventory no.81

Literature

Antiquarian Horology, Dec. 1973, Meyrick Neilson advert, p.473
Country Life, 23rd Jan. 1975, p.196 illus.

The engraved trophy of Eternity is taken from Simon Gribelin (1661-1733), Book of Ornaments useful to Jewellers, Watchmakers and all other Artists, London, 1697. This may indicate this perpetual calendar was engraved by Gribelin. It was presumably intended for presentation to Isaac Newton, but as he died in March 1727 its manufacture may not have been completed in time for him to receive it, the first year intended for its use being 1728.

Of double disc conjoined-coin form, the two parts swivelling about a pin-hinge, so one can slide within the other, thus revealing four faces: 1, outer sleeve obverse and 2, outer sleeve reverse; 3, inner disc obverse and 4, inner disc reverse.

Face 1: inscribed Perpetual Calender, and marked with the signs of the Zodiac along the circumference and with engraved decoration of cartouches inhabited by winged putti heads around the three apertures for the hours of rising and setting Sun, length of the days for each month, months of the year with the various historical and religious festival dates, a fourth aperture against the rim for month and its duration;

Face 2: with engraved tables for the time of the Moon’s Southing (meridian passage) and with a volvelle for time of high tide at a list of sea-ports, with scales for the age and phase of the Moon, the days of the week and date of the month;

Face 3: Inscribed George xxxxx [removed] to his Esteemed friend Isaac Newton, plus The Shortest Day is part of The Longest Time But the Longest Time is / no part of eternity / For When Time ends / Eternity Begins and with apertures for the beginnings and end of the Law Terms, the dates of Sundays through the year, and the Lessons to be read in church on each of them;

Face 4: with an aperture for the apposite year in the range of 1728 to 1783, the date of Easter for standard and leap years, an engraved trophy of Eternity within a cartouche featuring a winged sand-glass, a serpent biting its own tail, and crossed implements of a scythe and sickle

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Product Description

The engraved trophy of Eternity is taken from Simon Gribelin (1661-1733), Book of Ornaments useful to Jewellers, Watchmakers and all other Artists, London, 1697. This may indicate this perpetual calendar was engraved by Gribelin. It was presumably intended for presentation to Isaac Newton, but as he died in March 1727 its manufacture may not have been completed in time for him to receive it, the first year intended for its use being 1728.

Of double disc conjoined-coin form, the two parts swivelling about a pin-hinge, so one can slide within the other, thus revealing four faces: 1, outer sleeve obverse and 2, outer sleeve reverse; 3, inner disc obverse and 4, inner disc reverse.

Face 1: inscribed Perpetual Calender, and marked with the signs of the Zodiac along the circumference and with engraved decoration of cartouches inhabited by winged putti heads around the three apertures for the hours of rising and setting Sun, length of the days for each month, months of the year with the various historical and religious festival dates, a fourth aperture against the rim for month and its duration;

Face 2: with engraved tables for the time of the Moon’s Southing (meridian passage) and with a volvelle for time of high tide at a list of sea-ports, with scales for the age and phase of the Moon, the days of the week and date of the month;

Face 3: Inscribed George xxxxx [removed] to his Esteemed friend Isaac Newton, plus The Shortest Day is part of The Longest Time But the Longest Time is / no part of eternity / For When Time ends / Eternity Begins and with apertures for the beginnings and end of the Law Terms, the dates of Sundays through the year, and the Lessons to be read in church on each of them;

Face 4: with an aperture for the apposite year in the range of 1728 to 1783, the date of Easter for standard and leap years, an engraved trophy of Eternity within a cartouche featuring a winged sand-glass, a serpent biting its own tail, and crossed implements of a scythe and sickle

Additional information

Dimensions 5827373 cm