An Almohad Astrolabe signed by Abu Bakr ibn Yusuf
An Almohad brass astrolabe mater and plates, signed by Abu Bakr ibn Yusuf, Morocco, Marrakesh, dated 615 AH/1218-19 AD
Auction Closed
April 30, 03:48 PM GMT
Estimate
100,000 - 150,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
cast brass, the mater graduated into 360 degrees, engraved with inscriptions in Andalusian Kufic, with openwork arabesque Kursi and shackle above, with 4 plates each engraved on both sides with the localities Mecca, Medina, Sabtah (Ceuta), Almeria, Seville, Córdoba, Toledo, and Zaragoza, interior of the mater undecorated, the reverse with concentric scales and shadow square, rete, alidade, pin and horse lacking
12.1cm. height including shackle
7.5cm. diam.
Ex-collection Dominique Jean, Baron Larrey (1766-1842), France
M.L. AM. Sédillot, Mémoire sur les instruments astronomiques des Arabes, Paris, 1844, pp.175-7 (unillustrated)
R.T. Gunther, Astrolabes of the World, London, 1976, p.267-8, no.125 (first pub. 1932)
D.A. King, In Synchrony with the Heavens, Volume Two, Leiden, 2005, p.1010, no.6e (unillustrated)
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