MARINE ONE HOUR HOURGLASS
England, 18th century
Wood, glass, sand and wax
H.: 20.2; Diam.: 9.5 cm
(restoration)
Hourglass composed of a vial with two bulbs in lightly tinted bubbled glass, associated with a wax seal and two circular wooden bases held together using four wooden sticks forming columns – one of the discs is marked with the intertwined initials DT, DA, DT in black ink.
Its flow time is one hour.
On board, by combining the number of times an hourglass had been turned with the speed information transmitted by the log, it was possible from the 15th century to estimate the position of a ship at sea.
Text and photos © FCP CORIDON
Ref.: 4995