A brass sundial is a sundial in which the dial plate and gnomon, the projecting arm that casts the shadow, are made of brass. Most are horizontal garden dials, designed to be mounted on a stone or cast-iron pedestal, though portable brass sundials and equinoctial dials were also made for travellers.
Horizontal brass dials were produced in England from the seventeenth century, and the finest examples were engraved by scientific instrument makers with elaborate hour lines, minute divisions, compass points, mottoes and sometimes the latitude for which the dial was calculated. An accurate dial must be made for a particular latitude and set correctly to true north. Eighteenth-century dials often carry equation-of-time tables to convert solar time to clock time, and makers' signatures and dates add significantly to value. Many later dials were cast in quantity as garden ornaments, with simpler engraving or cast decoration, and reproductions are common. Collectors look for crisp, deep engraving, a signed and dated plate, an original gnomon and an honest weathered surface with a soft green or brown patina. A brass sundial on a fine stone baluster pedestal remains a classic focal point for a formal garden, terrace or walled garden.
