Sundials

The Greeks have used sundials to measure time since 100 B.C. Reminiscent of classic Greek mythology, this Atlas Armillary Sundial will demand attention,...

A vintage Swedish armillary sundial, accented with numeric banding around the sphere's center perimeter can be placed on plinth or a table to make a ...

Atlas is supporting the universe in this classic mid-century garden ornament from Sweden. He is standing on a 20 inch iron pedestal with climbing ivy motifs on all four sides. The or...

A Swedish garden armillary flared base having seated on cast hard stone balustrade pedestal, 20th century.

3-373 brass garden sundial.

This vintage black painted globe shaped garden ornament, called an armillary, is made up of metal bands, pierced by an arrow and supported by a mounting bracket. The base has images of the zodiac in each of the small panels. These "sun clocks...

A cast stone naturalist sundial pedestal features elements of baroque and Rococo with trunk and stick form and having Gothic figures, 20th century. M...

Large weather iron 42 inch clock face with roman numerals. This is a decorative wall decoration with gilt numerals, hour and minute hand that is not a time piece. The hands are stati...

Strikingly large Maitland Smith armillary on a black tessellated base. Made of solid iron, the armillary measures 39” tall on a 12.5” base. There are nine iron rings that rotate arou...

Intriguing 18th century Italian sundial in slate stone on a custom-made base. All inscriptions on this dial are in French and depict different timezones in Europe. It has beautiful e...

A English vintage brass spherical armillary astrolabe globe. They were designed over 2000 years ago to solve astronomical problems, specifically to tell time.

Rare early edition Helix Sundial designed by Piet Hein for Helios in Denmark, 1986. Piet Hein designed the sundial in 1986 for the park at Egeskov Castle in Denmark. The unique feature of this sundial is that the shadow-caster and the shadow-catcher have been combined into one unit: a spiral-shaped band (helix) that throws a shadow on itself - a construction that is unique in the 3000-4000 years that man has been making sundials. The dots on the spiral are used as markings to tell the time based on where the shadow line is. This is one of the first of these sundials that was produced, marked number 10 (0010). In good original condition with minor wear consistent with age and use, preserving a wonderful patina. Piet Hein has expressed himself throughout his life both as an artist and a scientist. He has been called a universalist. In that way a spiritual affinity existed between him and the Renaissance ideal - a modern variant of Leonardo da Vinci. However, contrary to the historical ideals, in Piet Hein's works is found an easily recognizable element whether it is a matter of scientific publications, essays, poetry or architecture. The special Piet Hein touch is the superiority of the form in relation to the objectives, the medium and - for that matter - the contents. Piet Hein's world is almost the epitome of design. His recognisable style of language and material turns design into art. Piet Hein decided to find an absolutely harmonic physical design. With mathematical intuition he first found the form and then explained it afterwards. His superellipse was to solve the double contrast between the circle and the square and that of the ellipse and the rectangle. Within furniture design the superellipse also became the solution to various problems - especially in relation to Piet Hein's design of tabletops the superellipse became popular. In a three-dimensional version the superellipse became the superegg which has been used for metal versions of various board games, superegg drink coolers and the anti-stress ball. Especially the latter reached an enormous distribution in the 1970s. In addition to his work with the development of the superellipse Piet Hein has executed a great many other design commissions, from board games in wood to the elegant Sinus lamp...