Museum
Pocket dial
Description
A late sixteenth/early seventeenth-century pocket dial. This consists of a flat brass ring, engraved inside with the hours of the day and outside with the initials of the months. A pierced sliding ring runs around the middle of the outer ring covering a slot. When the hole is opposite the date, and the dial turned towards the sun, a ray of light passes through the hole. This forms a bright spot on the inner ring, indicating the time.