Exhibition: The Astrolabe, East and West


The astrolabe clock

The earliest mechanical clocks we know of were mechanical astrolabes - that is, the 'face' took the form of an astrolabe with the rete rotated by clockwork. The tradition was continued with some table clocks of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In this example the rete has 16 stars. This clock also gives the position of the sun and the moon, and indicates eclipses.
Closeup of Astrolabe Clock, by Johann Leonhardt Bommel, Nuremberg, c.1686? (Inv. 35592) Astrolabe Clock, by Johann Leonhardt Bommel, Nuremberg, c.1686? (Inv. 35592)
Astrolabe Clock, by Johann Leonhardt Bommel, Nuremberg, c.1686? (Inv. 35592)
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