Moving Heaven and Earth - Armillary spheres shines at the "Antiques" Tercentenary Auction

Ptolemaic armillary sphere

The sky seemed to be the limit at the sensational sale of a rare armillary sphere – a kind of table planetarium. In the course of the Vienna Dorotheum's Antiques tercentenary auction on 18th October 2007, it was finally sold to telephone bidder from Britain for 306.000 Euro, following a heated bidding contest. This result far exceeded the original price of  50.000 to 80.000 Euro.

The geocentric Ptolemaic armillary sphere was crafted by „Mathematicus et Mechanicus“ Christian Carl Schindler (ca. 1680 - 1716) and consists of four major circles and four minor circles. The central axis features a wooden sphere representing Earth. The central axis is segmented below the celestial north pole allowing room to move the two quarter-circle brass brackets supporting the sun disc and the moon disc, respectively. At slightly less than 47 cm, the armillary sphere is not only considered the largest, but also the most attractive and most important example of Christian Carl Schindler's work still in existence and a rare testimony to the craftsmanship and precision of Central European instrument making at the beginning of the Enlightenment (Cat. No. 1266).

Press Office: Mag. Doris Krumpl, Tel +43 1/515 60-406, doris.krumpl@dorotheum.at

Ptolemaic armillary sphere