A fine French brass horizontal compass sundial Michael Butterfield, Paris, circa 1700 The square baseplate signed Butterfield, AParis to lower edge and incorporating a compass centred with a finely engraved thirty-two point rose fully annotated in French within glazed moulded bezel divided into 360 degrees with scale annotated for every ten degrees both for the entire circumference and for each quarter to the inside edge, the circular sundial plate fitting via overlapping friction collar onto the compass with repeat signature Butterfield AParis and scroll-bordered aperture revealing section of compass scale opposing hinged bird engraved adjustable gnomon calibrated in degrees for elevation, the circumference with four hour scales for 52, 49, 46 and 43 degrees annotated from the outside in for hours 4-12-8, IIII-XII-VIII, 4-12-8 and V-XI-I-VII divided into half hours with cruciform half hour markers, the centre engraved with latitudes for twenty-two cities including Londres 51..32, Hambourg 53..41, Strasbourg 44..42, Nantes 47..46, Grenoble 45..13t, Marseille 43..20 and Nice 43..32, the baseplate 9cm (3ins) square. Provenance: The beneficiaries of the Estate of an Italian connoisseur collector of horological artefacts and works of art. Michael Butterfield was an English Instrument maker born in 1635 who is believed to have emigrated to Paris in around 1663. Butterfield initially set up business in rue Neuve-des-Fosses, faubourg Saint-Germaine trading under the sign 'AUX ARMES D'ANGLETERRE' (at the sign of the English coat of arms) however by 1685 he had relocated to a workshop in 'Le Quay de l'Horloge'. Amongst Butterfield's patrons was the Royal Court and in 1717 he supplied a number of instruments to Tsar Peter the Great. He died in 1724 Butterfield is best known for devising a pattern of pocket sundial with compass set into stretched octagonal plate often annotated with several hour scales for differing latitudes and fitted with a hinged gnomen with adjustable vane calibrated in degrees (see lot XX for an example by N. Bion). In addition to sundials Michael Butterfield also well known for producing fine quality sectors and related drawing and surveying instruments. The current lot is notable in that it is clearly made with accuracy in mind hence would have been an expensive 'top of the range' model when made. The extensively annotated rose and the finely divided outer scale to the compass allows accurate direction readings to be taken. In addition to this the sundial itself is engraved with four hour chapters, and relevant latitudes for each European city in the centre includes annotations for seconds as well as minutes. The present dial can be compared to a compass sundial attributed to Pierre Le Maire, Paris sold at Sotheby's, New York MASTERPIECES FROM THE TIME MUSEUM, PART FOUR, October 13th and 14th, 2004 (lot 773). This example is of the same basic form as the current lot with compass set beneath the sundial plate visible through a shaped aperture in front of the gnomen. However it varies in that there is only one hour chapter which is compensated by the fact that the plate itself is hinged allowing an inclined plane dial (rather than relying on several hour chapters annotated for differing latitudes engraved on a fixed as per the current lot).
A fine French brass horizontal compass sundial Michael Butterfield, Paris, circa 1700 The square baseplate signed Butterfield, AParis to lower edge and incorporating a compass centred with a finely engraved thirty-two point rose fully annotated in French within glazed moulded bezel divided into 360 degrees with scale annotated for every ten degrees both for the entire circumference and for each quarter to the inside edge, the circular sundial plate fitting via overlapping friction collar onto the compass with repeat signature Butterfield AParis and scroll-bordered aperture revealing section of compass scale opposing hinged bird engraved adjustable gnomon calibrated in degrees for elevation, the circumference with four hour scales for 52, 49, 46 and 43 degrees annotated from the outside in for hours 4-12-8, IIII-XII-VIII, 4-12-8 and V-XI-I-VII divided into half hours with cruciform half hour markers, the centre engraved with latitudes for twenty-two cities including Londres 51..32, Hambourg 53..41, Strasbourg 44..42, Nantes 47..46, Grenoble 45..13t, Marseille 43..20 and Nice 43..32, the baseplate 9cm (3ins) square. Provenance: The beneficiaries of the Estate of an Italian connoisseur collector of horological artefacts and works of art. Michael Butterfield was an English Instrument maker born in 1635 who is believed to have emigrated to Paris in around 1663. Butterfield initially set up business in rue Neuve-des-Fosses, faubourg Saint-Germaine trading under the sign 'AUX ARMES D'ANGLETERRE' (at the sign of the English coat of arms) however by 1685 he had relocated to a workshop in 'Le Quay de l'Horloge'. Amongst Butterfield's patrons was the Royal Court and in 1717 he supplied a number of instruments to Tsar Peter the Great. He died in 1724 Butterfield is best known for devising a pattern of pocket sundial with compass set into stretched octagonal plate often annotated with several hour scales for differing latitudes and fitted with a hinged gnomen with adjustable vane calibrated in degrees (see lot XX for an example by N. Bion). In addition to sundials Michael Butterfield also well known for producing fine quality sectors and related drawing and surveying instruments. The current lot is notable in that it is clearly made with accuracy in mind hence would have been an expensive 'top of the range' model when made. The extensively annotated rose and the finely divided outer scale to the compass allows accurate direction readings to be taken. In addition to this the sundial itself is engraved with four hour chapters, and relevant latitudes for each European city in the centre includes annotations for seconds as well as minutes. The present dial can be compared to a compass sundial attributed to Pierre Le Maire, Paris sold at Sotheby's, New York MASTERPIECES FROM THE TIME MUSEUM, PART FOUR, October 13th and 14th, 2004 (lot 773). This example is of the same basic form as the current lot with compass set beneath the sundial plate visible through a shaped aperture in front of the gnomen. However it varies in that there is only one hour chapter which is compensated by the fact that the plate itself is hinged allowing an inclined plane dial (rather than relying on several hour chapters annotated for differing latitudes engraved on a fixed as per the current lot).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
