Continental Europe - Sundials

A Swedish garden armillary on a metal base made of metal and cement plate. Total height approx. 86 cm.

“Armillary sundial” sculpture, Bronze and stone, mid-20th century – France Ancient sculpture from the mid-20th century, known as an armillary sundial. It is a piece in good condition...

Vintage Original Sun Clock or Armillary Sun Dial attributed to Sune Rooth, mid-20th century. Antique garden ornament from Sweden, known as a Sun Clock or Armillary Sun dial, with a c...

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

A 19th century silvered and gilt-brass horizontal compass-sundial, signed Jacques Linedal fecit a Dieppe Lat. 49, with folding scroll support gnomon, the compass with a blued needle,...

A impressive and intriguing Spanish Zodiac dating back to the Romanesque period. This architectural fragment would originally have been part of the facade of a aristocratic house or the inner walls of a cloister. Knowledge of the Zodiac was the privilege of the upper classes and only kept alive trough the efforts of monks who safeguarded (and hid at the same time) books and manuscripts since antiquity. This example is very rare, not only because of its age and size but also because it combines a Zodiac with a sundial. It is executed with great care and eye for proportion. The sculpture was originally made out of two vertical slabs tightly positioned next each other. We fixed both stones together and finished with a natural mortar in between as they did in the 12th century...

A beautiful large scale is armillary in metal with a central sphere depicting earth. The arrow is the axis, the earth revolves on. The point, earth, and arrow are gold leaf gilt. T...

A impressive and intriguing Spanish Zodiac dating back to the Romanesque period. This architectural fragment would originally have been part of the facade of a aristocratic house or the inner walls of a cloister. Knowledge of the Zodiac was the privilege of the upper classes and only kept alive trough the efforts of monks who safeguarded (and hid at the same time) books and manuscripts since antiquity. This example is verry rare, not only because of its age and size but also because it combines a Zodiac with a sundial. It is executed with great care and eye for proportion. The sculpture was originally made out of two vertical slabs tightly positioned next each other. We fixed both stones together and finished with a natural mortar in between as they did in the 12th century...

Antique sundial zodiac base cast metal and copper armillary on stone base This magnificent sundial was made in Finland in the 1940s. The number...

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...

Nice garden item in a very good condition.

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...