Astrolabe, by Khalil Muhammad ibn Hasan `Ali and `Abd al-A'imma, Persian, Early 18th Century

Object is on display.

Inventory Number:

33739

Object Type:

Object

Persons:

Khalil Muhammad ibn Hasan `Ali (Maker)

Date Created:

c. 1710 CE

Place Created:

Iran/Persia Asia

Subject Classification(s):

Astrolabes

Accession Number:

1957-84/7

Brief Description:

It is unusual to see a 'division of labour' recorded on an astrolabe, but is characteristic of one group of astrolabe makers in Isfahan in the first decades of the 1700s CE. In this case we are told, through separate signatures, the name of the maker - Khalil Muhammad ibn Hasan Ali - and of the man who 'decorated' the astrolabe - Abd al-Aimma. With such fine decorative engraving, especially on the back and the womb, and extending also to the rim, it is not surprising that a specialist was responsible for this aspect of manufacture. Khalil Muḥammad collaborated in this way with a number of his contemporaries, chiefly Muhammad Baqir and Abd al-Aimma, who was also a famous astrolabist in his own right.

Primary Inscriptions:

الفقير خليل محد ابن حسن علي صنعه "Made by the poor man Khalil Muhammad ibn Hasan Ali". Engraved in a cartouche below the shadow-square. نمقه عبد الائمه ابن عبد الحسين "Decorated by Abd al-Aimma ibn Abd al-Husain". Engraved on the back, at the bottom. تمامها و ... الله … طلوع النير الاعظم ابو المظفر ... شاه سلطان حسن خان خلدالله ملكه باشره الثوار الاكمل العظم ... الامر الى[…] دولته الدولة العلليه العالي ميرزا محمد طاهر وسع كرسيه السموات والأ رض "His Throne extends over heavesn and earth". Engraved on the back of the kursi.

Provenance:

Presented by J. A. Billmeir in 1957. Formerly in the Michel Collection. Made for the vizier of Shah Husain, Mirzā Muḥammad Ṭāhir J. A. Billmeir acquired it with the collection of Henri Michel, of Brussels, which he purchased around 1950.[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):

copper alloy
Silk
acid-free board

Dimensions: