Sundial
Maker & role
Raphael Clint (b.1797, d.1849), Maker
Production date
circa 1840
See full details
Object detail
Production place
Measurements
0 - Whole, H: 17.1 x W: 17.3cm (H: 171 x W: 173mm)
Signature & marks
Engraved lower left: 'R. Clint'
Engraved lower right: 'Sydney'
Engraved lower right: 'Sydney'
Credit line
Gift, through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, 2004
Caroline Simpson Collection, Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Caroline Simpson Collection, Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Caption
Sundial , circa 1840
Description
A bronze sundial (without base) engraved by Raphael Clint, c 1840. Clint was one of only a few makers of sundials in the colony of New South Wales (NSW) at that time and certainly the best known of them. Although Clint has signed this sundial in his usual manner, it is unlike other known examples that are also engraved with the name of a particular house and/or owner. A possible explanation is that this sundial was created as a trade sample or display model. Other known examples include sundials made for: Archibald Mosman of St Leonards Lodge, North Shore; Rev Thomas Sharpe of Roxburgh Cottage, Bathurst; Henry Edenborough of Wollogorong on the southern tablelands of NSW; A W Scott of Ash Island near Newcastle; Daniel Cohen of Port Macquarie and James Barker of Lindesay, Darling Point. Three of these dials remain in situ.
Clint advertised in 1837 that he could provide from his stock "calculated Sun Dials... for any five miles in the Colony" as well as computing sundials to any particular locality. In this period, sundials remained particularly useful devices for country dwellers in Australia who may have had no town clock nearby and been unable to easily check the accuracy of their own clocks. In fact, Clint aimed his 1837 advertisement at the "Gentlemen residing or having Stations in the interior" as sundials "will be found of incalculable utility up the country, where no other means of maintaining a correct knowledge of time exists." Contemporary engravings and historical photographs show that sundials, including some possibly by Clint, were a feature of garden landscaping in several gentlemen's gardens in both town and country NSW from around the late 1830s and early 1840s. In addition to their time keeping qualities, sundials also served an ornamental role in the garden. In J C Loudon's seminal 'An Encyclopaedia of Cottage Farm and Villa Architecture and Furniture' (1833), he stated that "a sundial is one of the most agreeable and useful of architectural appendages, and in this country [England] is become venerable, as a piece of garden furniture." As clocks and pocket watches became more affordable and more reliable later in the nineteenth century, the role of the sundial became increasingly one of decoration, though its presence in a garden could still serve as a reminder of the passing of time and brevity of life.
Clint advertised in 1837 that he could provide from his stock "calculated Sun Dials... for any five miles in the Colony" as well as computing sundials to any particular locality. In this period, sundials remained particularly useful devices for country dwellers in Australia who may have had no town clock nearby and been unable to easily check the accuracy of their own clocks. In fact, Clint aimed his 1837 advertisement at the "Gentlemen residing or having Stations in the interior" as sundials "will be found of incalculable utility up the country, where no other means of maintaining a correct knowledge of time exists." Contemporary engravings and historical photographs show that sundials, including some possibly by Clint, were a feature of garden landscaping in several gentlemen's gardens in both town and country NSW from around the late 1830s and early 1840s. In addition to their time keeping qualities, sundials also served an ornamental role in the garden. In J C Loudon's seminal 'An Encyclopaedia of Cottage Farm and Villa Architecture and Furniture' (1833), he stated that "a sundial is one of the most agreeable and useful of architectural appendages, and in this country [England] is become venerable, as a piece of garden furniture." As clocks and pocket watches became more affordable and more reliable later in the nineteenth century, the role of the sundial became increasingly one of decoration, though its presence in a garden could still serve as a reminder of the passing of time and brevity of life.
Accession number
L2005/19
Share
Maker
Object name
Contact Us
Head Office
The Mint, 10 Macquarie St
Sydney, NSW 2000
On Gadigal land
T 02 8239 2288
TTY 02 8239 2377
E info@mhnsw.au
Public comments
Be the first to comment on this object record.