Instruments · Astrolabe
Astrolabe, Iran (Isfahan), 1715.
- Maker / attribution
- Abd al-A'immah (maker)
- Date
- 1715
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- Iran (Persia)
- Place
- Iran, Isfahan
- Object type
- Astrolabe
- Materials / technique
- Brass, cut and engraved
- Dimensions
- Height: 19.6 cm (maximum, with suspension ring); Width: 12.5 cm; Diameter: 11 cm (plates)
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- 458-1888
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number 458-1888), this is an astrolabe by Abd al-A'immah, made in Iran, Isfahan, Iran (Persia), dated 1715. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Instruments collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Brass, cut and engraved. Recorded dimensions: Height: 19.6 cm (maximum, with suspension ring); Width: 12.5 cm; Diameter: 11 cm (plates). The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
V&A — Summary
This astrolabe is signed by one ‘Abd al-Aimmah’ and dated to the year 1715. Iranian astrolabes fall into two categories: those made from the 10th to the 16th centuries, which continue in much the same style as the earliest Iranian astrolabes; and those made from the end of the second half of the 16th century, when there was a resurgance in astrolabe-making. These later astrolabes are decorated in the highly ornate style popular in Iran at this period. Numerous surviving examples from the 17th and 18th centuries reflect the popularity of astrology at court. The retes of these astrolabes - that is, the part of the instrument that maps the stars, made up of a rotating disk with pointers - feature patterns of vine scrolls, bearing leaf-shaped star pointers. The various components, as well as the rims and the backs, usually have patterns or inscriptions, sometimes Persian verses in either naskh or nastaliq scripts. Astrolabes from this period also often have a signature within a cartouche below the shadow square on the back.
V&A — Physical description
Brass sheet, cut and engraved.
V&A gallery label
Jameel Gallery 2–3 Astrolabes Like the celestial globe, the astrolabe was inherited from Greek and Roman astronomy. It shows the relative positions of the sun and stars on a flat surface. The solid plates are engraved for different latitudes. To use the astrolabe, one plate is placed in the casing (mater) under the openwork disc (rete). The rete is a star map with pointers showing the stars’ position. It is moved to the correct position once an observation has been made with the sighting device (alidade). 3 Dismantled Astrolabe Iran, Isfahan Dated 1715 Brass, cast and sheet, pierced and engraved. Made by Abd al-A’immah Museum no. 458-1888
Inscriptions & marks
'Abd al-Aimmah
Historical context
Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
Huygens' pendulum and balance spring transform accuracy; English makers develop the anchor and deadbeat escapements.
Pocket sundials, Butterfield dials and sandglasses remained essential companions to imperfect clocks; navigators used sandglasses and the log line; observatories began to combine telescopes with pendulum clocks.
Read the period in the timelineMore instruments from this periodEarlier: Renaissance Horology
Atlas type guide
Astrolabes, quadrants and astronomical compendia
The planispheric astrolabe is a two-dimensional model of the sky. A pierced rotating star map (the rete) turns over a plate engraved for a particular latitude; by aligning a star or the sun with its observed altitude, the user can read the time of day or night, the time of sunrise and sunset, and solve many other astronomical problems. Developed in the Hellenistic world and refined by astronomers in the Islamic world from the eighth century, it reached Latin Europe through al-Andalus.
Quadrants, compendia, armillary spheres and later orreries belong to the same family of instruments that model the heavens. They were teaching tools, status objects and practical time-finders. Many surviving examples are signed and dated, which makes them important evidence for the history of instrument-making workshops in Baghdad, Isfahan, Lahore, Toledo, Louvain, Nuremberg, London and elsewhere.
What to look for
- The latitudes engraved on the plates — they show which cities the instrument was made for.
- The script and calendar used: Arabic or Persian inscriptions, abjad numerals, Hebrew or Latin text indicate tradition and region.
- The design of the rete: the number of named stars and the style of the star pointers changes by region and period.
- Shadow squares, unequal-hour lines and zodiac scales on the back (dorsum).
- Signatures, dedications and dates, often hidden on the throne (kursi) or the back.
Dating clues
- Signed and dated astrolabes allow precise dating; undated ones are attributed by star positions on the rete, which shift slowly through precession.
- Gothic-style retes with tracery are typical of European instruments of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
- Printed paper astrolabes and planispheres became common from the sixteenth century onward.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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