Sundials combine science and art to beautify your garden

A 19th-century Dutch copper and brass armillary sundial sold for $3,000 plus the buyer’s premium in October 2020 at Westport Auction. Image courtesy of Westport Auction and LiveAuctioneers.
A 19th-century Dutch copper and brass armillary sundial sold for $3,000 plus the buyer’s premium in October 2020. Image courtesy of Westport Auction and LiveAuctioneers.

NEW YORK — Centuries before watches and cell phones took over the task of keeping track of the time, people could roughly discern the hour by looking up at the sun. Alternately, they could look down to mark the sun’s passage across the sky, which could be tracked by where it cast its shadow on the ground. This fact gave rise to the sundial, a scientific instrument that lends itself to decorative beauty and lush garden settings.

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