Astrolabe, by Muhammad Salih Tatawi, Indo-Persian, Thatta, 1666/7

Object is on display.

Inventory Number:

33474

Object Type:

Object

Persons:

Muhammad Salih Tatawi (Maker)

Date Created:

Dated 1077 A.H. (1666/7 CE)

Place Created:

Thatta Pakistan Asia

Subject Classification(s):

Astrolabes

Accession Number:

1957-84/164

Brief Description:

A fine Persian astrolabe. One remarkable feature of this astrolabe in the extensive gazeteer engraved in the womb of the mater. Here three concentric circular tables give the longitudes and latitudes of no less than 133 towns, all of them in the Muslim world. Many are located in Mughal India, and the astrolabe is signed "the work of Muhammad Salih Tatawi", that is, of Tatta, in Sind, India.

Primary Inscriptions:

عمل محمد صالح تتوى سنه ٧٧٧ "Work of Muhammad Salih Tatawi, year 777 H". Engraved on the limb. The date on this inscription is almost certainly a mistake. One suggestion is that it should read ١٠٧٧ (1077), which has been accepted as the correct year

Provenance:

Presented by J. A. Billmeir in 1957. Formerly in the Chadenat Collection, Paris. Bought by Billmeir at the auction sale of the Chadenat Collection at the Hotel Drouot, Paris, on 24 May 1956. Charles Chadenat was a collector and dealer in Paris. [Source: 'A Universal Geometry: the Astrolabe East and West'; Museum of the History of Science cataloguing project supported by the Designation Challenge Fund of the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, completed 2005, See https://www.mhs.ox.ac.uk/astrolabe/].

Collection Group:

Billmeir Collection

Material(s):

Brass

Dimensions: