Description:
The first orrery was made c. 1700 by George Graham, an English instrument maker, and named in honor of his patron, Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery. William Jones, a London optician and instrument maker, developed a portable orrery for students and “the use of gentlemen” in 1782. Deerfield Academy announced that it had purchased a Jones orrery, described as “a complete Planetarium with Tellurian and Lunarium combined,” in 1808. Tellurian refers to the model of Earth; Lunarium refers to the model of the moon. Orrery in wood, probably beech, box with brass supports, gears, and mechanisms supporting hand-painted ivory spheres representing the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth and Moon, Mars, Jupiter and moons, and Saturn and moons. Smaller mechanism in proper left front corner with brass sun and hand-painted ivory spheres representing the Earth and Moon on top of disc-shaped paper calendar with zodiac symbols and phases of the Moon. At central bottom of case is larger hand-colored paper disc with the seasons, zodiac symbols and annual calendar configured around its center. Near center of disc, within banner, is printed label: "A NEW PORTABLE ORRERY,/Invented and Made by W. JONES,/and Sold by him in Holborn,/LONDON." On outside of wood case is brass escutcheon with a brass hook and corresponding eye hook on each side. The case features dovetail construction and on its base are two stickers: "Sotheby's/86/20-9-01/LOT NO." and: "20265519/1" from 2001 public auction. William Jones (1763-1831). A wood and brass orerry with a circular base with a diameter of 7 3/4". There is a colored print mounted to the top of the disk which shows the season, zodiac signs, degrees of asimuth, and days and months of the year. At the center of the disk is a threaded hole where the brass center of the orrery threads. At the center of the orrery is a brass sun and below the sun there are seven stacked arms, each with a vertical post at the end supporting a planet with "0-7" moons. The arms can be rotated manually around the sun. The orrery has a brass geared tellurian. The tellurian screws onto the same brass plate as the orrery and demonstrates the rotations of the earth on its axis around the sun, and the moon around the earth. Additionally there is a small metal lamp that can be used as a substitution for the sun in a dark room to create a different effect. The orrery retains its original mahogany box and is accompanied by an original instruction manual which is entitled, "The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, on a Simple Construction, Representing the Motions and Phenomena of the Planetary System..." 1812. Condition: Excellent. A few small moons are missing. There is a large crack on the top of the box and one of the latches is missing its end.
Label Text:
According to the best political science of the 1780s, a well-educated citizenry was crucial to sustaining a healthy republic. New England and especially the Connecticut River Valley became a center for education and reform in the early 19th century, with dozens of academies founded to teach young men and women. Many offered a curriculum in English grammar, foreign languages, arithmetic, geography, and science including astronomy and natural philosophy. In 1782, William Jones, a London optician and instrument maker, developed a portable orrery for students and “the use of gentlemen.” Deerfield Academy announced that it had purchased a Jones orrery, described as “a complete Planetarium with Tellurian and Lunarium combined,” in 1808. Tellurian refers to the model of Earth, and Lunarium denotes the model of the moon. The orrery is accompanied by an instruction manual entitled, The Description and Use of a New Portable Orrery, on a Simple Construction, Representing the Motions and Phenomena of the Planetary System... (London, 1812).
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2021.23.1 |
