Spectacular Enlightenment sundial acquired by National Museums Scotland
National Museums Scotland has announced the acquisition of an ornate early 18 th- century sundial of
exceptional precision and design. The Ilay Glynne dial, which is now on display at the National
Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, is a masterpiece of both art and science.
The Ilay Glynne dial, made around 1715, was used to measure local time from the Sun, providing the
most accurate means of setting clocks available at the time. It could be used at any latitude, and its
form models the celestial sphere, showing the Sun’s apparent motion around the Earth.
The acquisition of the dial, which has important connections to post-Union Scotland, has been
supported by the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund.
exceptional precision and design. The Ilay Glynne dial, which is now on display at the National
Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, is a masterpiece of both art and science.
The Ilay Glynne dial, made around 1715, was used to measure local time from the Sun, providing the
most accurate means of setting clocks available at the time. It could be used at any latitude, and its
form models the celestial sphere, showing the Sun’s apparent motion around the Earth.
The acquisition of the dial, which has important connections to post-Union Scotland, has been
supported by the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund.
Category
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CreativityTranscript
00:00I'm Rebecca Higgett, I'm Principal Curator of Science at National Museums Scotland.
00:04So this is a sundial, or formally it is a mechanical extending equinoctial ring dial,
00:11so that tells you it's a fancy kind of sundial made by Richard Glynn for the Earl of Islay,
00:16Archibald Campbell. It's a scientific instrument, you can use it to calculate the time,
00:21but it's also a work of art, it's an object of beauty to stand in a nobleman's library.
00:26It's significant because it's an early 18th century scientific instrument, it tells us
00:31about the developing trade in scientific instruments in the 18th century, and it's
00:37beautifully decorated but also very skilfully divided in its scale, so it's a precision
00:42instrument and it's a really wonderful example of the maker Richard Glynn's work. But it's also of
00:48significance to us because of who commissioned it, which was the Earl of Islay, as he was then,
00:52who was and became a very powerful figure in Scotland in the first half of the 18th century,
00:57he had patronage of the crown, so essentially he had great power to wield politically but also
01:03culturally, and so for us he is a person that we want to be able to talk about in our galleries.
01:09The dial's now on display in the Scotland Transformed Gallery at National Museums Scotland.
01:14This acquisition was made possible by the generous donations from the Art Fund,
01:18with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation, the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the National
01:24Museums of Scotland Charitable Trust, and other generous donors from the UK and the USA.