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Date: |
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Description: | Made by the hand of the least of (God's) servants, Muhammad Muqim ibn 'Isa ibn Ilahdad Humayuni, astrolabe-maker of Lahore / in the year 1051 of the Hijra
Muhammad Muqim, the grandson of the celebrated Ilahdad, is considered one of the best instrument makers from 17th century Lahore. To date, 37 astrolabes by this maker have been recorded. The calligraphy on the plates and the mater is of quite a high standard, but is not as carefully engraved as the inscriptions on the rete.
The throne is high and elaborately fretted in a style typical of this maker. The suspentory apparatus is a well-made replacement. Within the mater, a geographical gazetteer gives the longitudes and latitudes of 69 localities in the near- and middle-east including Cairo, Baghdad and Ahmadabad. The style of execution of the rete is in harmony with that of the throne. There are five plates covering latitudes of 0�, 18�, 22�, 25�, 27�, 32�, 36�, 40�, 72� and 90�. On the back of the instrument are two altitude scales along the top-half of the rim, a sine quadrant in the upper-left and a graph of the solar meridian altitude as a function of the solar longitude for latitudes 27� and 32�, in the top-right. In the bottom half is a double shadow square beneath which is the maker's signature, engraved upside-down: 'Made by the hand of the least of (God's) servants, Muhammad Muqim ibn 'Isa ibn Ilahdad Humayuni, astrolabe-maker of Lahore / in the year 1051 of the Hijra'. The wedge is a replacement, signed 'S.P. 1970'.
Astrolabes at Greenwich pp.231-36
Inscription. negative numbers 6419, 8694
See http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/m/sir-robert-j-murdoch-smith/ for further details on Major General Sir Robert Murdoch Smith K.C.M.G
Similar items have been sold at the following auctions:
- 13 April 2002 Skinner, Auction 2133, Lot 245, sold for $9,400
- 17 May 2007 Christie's, Auction 5250, Lot 88, sold for �72,000
- 01 April 2009 Sotheby's, Auction L09721, Lot 102, sold for �73,250
There is another astrolabe by this maker on display at the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar (object no. MW.391.2007)
caption: Astrolabe: mounted obverse
caption: Astrolabe: dismounted obverse
caption: Astrolabe: dismounted reverse
caption: Astrolabe: detail below shadow square | Publisher: | "http://collections.rmg.co.uk/" | Rights holder: | "Royal Museums Greenwich" | Subjects: | Throne Smith Gazetteer Shadow square Rete Mater Wedge 'Isa astrolabes Plate Muhammad Muqim ibn Mulla Robert Murdoch Sine quadrant | Source: | Royal Museums Greenwich | Identifier: | http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections... | Go to resource |
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