Instruments · Astrolabe
Astrolabe, Iran (Isfahan), dated 1667.
- Maker / attribution
- Muhammad Khalil Isfahani (maker); Muhammad Mahdi Yazdi (engraver)
- Date
- 1667
- Historical period
- Early Modern Horology (1600 – 1750)
- Country of origin
- Iran (Persia)
- Place
- Iran
- Object type
- Astrolabe
- Materials / technique
- Engraved and chased brass
- Dimensions
- Height: 18.6 cm (including suspension ring)
- Holding institution
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- Accession / object no.
- M.38-1916
- Credit line
- Clarke-Thornhill Gift
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Victoria and Albert Museum, London (object number M.38-1916), this is an astrolabe by Muhammad Khalil Isfahani, made in Iran, Iran (Persia), dated 1667. The Atlas places it in the Early Modern Horology period (1600 – 1750) of its Instruments collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: Engraved and chased brass. Recorded dimensions: Height: 18.6 cm (including suspension ring). 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 was made in Isfahan in 1667. It could have been used in scientific enquiry. It might have served religious purposes, such as telling the times of the five daily prayers or establishing the direction of Mecca. Astrolabes were also used in astrology, for example to cast horoscopes. For centuries, the astronomers of the Islamic Middle East led the world in their knowledge of the heavens. Astronomical instruments such as globes and astrolabes were produced in large numbers to a very high standard. 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, astronomers placed one plate in the casing (mater) under the openwork disc (rete). The rete is a star map with pointers showing the position of the stars. They moved it to the correct position once an observation has been made with the sighting device (alidade).
V&A — Physical description
Brass, pierced and engraved. Signed as made by Khalil (Muhammad) son of Husayn 'Ali, and decorated by Muhammad Mahdi son of Amin of Yazd.
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). 2 Astrolabe Iran, Isfahan Dated 1667 Brass, cast and sheet, pierced and engraved. Made by Muhammad Khalil Isfahani and engraved by Muhammad Mahdi Yazdi Museum no. M.38-1916 Given by T.B. Clarke-Thornhill
V&A gallery label
ASTROLABE Brass, pierced and engraved. Signed as made by Khalil (Muhammad) son of Husayn' Ali, and decorated by Muhammad Mahdi son of Muhammad Amin of Yazd. PERSIAN; third quarter 17th century. Clarke-Thornhill gift.
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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