It is not overly ornate, but still a very gorgeous complex piece. Could have used something other than goat hooves for feet IMO.
John_EightThirtyTwo on
A planetarium is a device that projects a simulated night sky on the inside of a dome. A mechanical solar system model like this is called an “orrery”.
Persephone_wanders on
According to the Museum of Artifacts website, the earth (look in the glass orb) “rotates around the sun in perfect real time.” And the “other five planets rotate as well–they “go up, down, around, in relation to the etched constellations of precisely positioned stars on the crystal globe, which if you are smart enough will reveal what season it is.” This fine timekeeping piece was the joint creation of Nicole-Reine Lepaute, a French astronomer who predicted the return of Halley’s Comet, and her husband, Jean-André Lepaute, who presided over a clockmaking dynasty and became horloger du Roi (clockmaker to the king). From Open culture
3 Comments
It is not overly ornate, but still a very gorgeous complex piece. Could have used something other than goat hooves for feet IMO.
A planetarium is a device that projects a simulated night sky on the inside of a dome. A mechanical solar system model like this is called an “orrery”.
According to the Museum of Artifacts website, the earth (look in the glass orb) “rotates around the sun in perfect real time.” And the “other five planets rotate as well–they “go up, down, around, in relation to the etched constellations of precisely positioned stars on the crystal globe, which if you are smart enough will reveal what season it is.” This fine timekeeping piece was the joint creation of Nicole-Reine Lepaute, a French astronomer who predicted the return of Halley’s Comet, and her husband, Jean-André Lepaute, who presided over a clockmaking dynasty and became horloger du Roi (clockmaker to the king). From Open culture