Orrery

Compound orrery with fittings for planetarium, tellurium and lunarium on brass base with supporting column and three legs. An inscriptions engraved on the base plateare the maker's name, "W. & S. Jones, 135 Holborn, London.", and a table of planetary orbits, dated 1794. The geared mechanism, used to move the tellurium and lunarium, is contained within the drum-shaped base and turned with an ivory-tipped handle on the side of the base.

The lunarium, demonstrating the relative positions and motion of the Sun, Earth and Moon, is brass and ivory, and has calendar and degree scales beneath. The tellurium, showing the annual and dirunal motions of the Earth, has a terrestrial globe with printed paper gores and has silver rings with degree scales of latitude (4 X 90 degrees) and longitude (180 degrees). The planetarium (missing) has a brass column that screws into the base and the planets, in ivory, are Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Jupiter (with 4 satellites), Saturn with ring (and 7 satellites), and Uranus (with brackets for 6 satellites, but ony two ivory moons remaining). The brass Sun is used with the planetarium, tellurium and lunarium.

Geographical details on the terrestrial sphere attached to this item are similar to those of the pocket globes GLB0196 and GLB0197, and the globe therefore appears to be of a somewhat earlier date, c.1775. An inscription in a rectangular cartouche reads: "A Correct GLOBE with the new Discoveries". The regions between the tropics are hatched and show the trade winds by arrows. There is a compass rose west of Australia, and a total of nine oceans are named.

As with GLB0196, there are certain amendments on the sphere. For instance, California is drawn as a peninsula and the north-west coast of America is extended up to 'Beering's L.d', Australia and New Zealand are adapted according to Cook's discoveries and 'N. S Wales, Cooks Str' are added. The track of Dampier is removed but traces of it are still visible and 'Cook's Track 1760 (!)' is added. Of the ocean names on GLB0197, the 'EASTERN OCEAN' is removed and the 'ATLANTIC OCEAN' is written without the 'K' at the end. On the present terrestrial sphere, a 'North.n Ocean' is recorded whereas on GLB0197 this region is damaged.