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A wall-mounted wind dial in a square foliate gilt wood frame over the fireplace in the King's Gallery at Kensington Palace. The dial has spandrels painted with figurative scenes depicting the continents and, in the centre, a circular map of northwest Europe; between the spandrels and map is a chapter ring with compass points and a metal pointer at the centre. The pointer is connected by means of chains and pulleys to a wind vane on the roof which is in the form of a gilt metal swallow tailed pennant.
The dial was made for William III. He could determine from the dial the way the wind was blowing, where his navy was likely to be heading and when the posts were likely to arrive. The outer frame and pediment superstructure date from William Kent's redecoration of the Gallery in 1725 for George I.Provenance
The map was devised by Robert Morden who was an English bookseller, publisher and maker of maps and globes. He was among the first successful commercial map makers. Between about 1675 and his death in 1703, he worked from premises under the sign of the Atlas in Cornhill and New Cheapside, London. His cartographical output was large and varied. His best known maps are those of South Wales, North Wales and the English Counties first published in a new edition of Camden's "Britannia" in 1695, He is also known for several very rare early maps of the British colonies in North America.
Robert Robinson was a painter and engraver. He became an apprentice-master of some standing between 1675 and 1699.
The wind-mechanism was probably devised by Thomas Tompion who is the most famous of all English clockmakers. The son of a Bedfordshire blacksmith, Tompion established his business near Fleet Street in 1671. He was closely associated with the mathematician and scientist Robert Hook. Over his lifetime his workshop produced about 650 clocks and 5,000 numbered watches. Tompion is buried in the central aisle of Westminster Abbey.
Included in the Pictorial Inventory of 1827-33 – RCIN 934910. The inventory was originally created as a record of the clocks, vases, candelabra and other miscellaneous items from Carlton House, as well as selected items from the stores at Buckingham House, the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, Hampton Court and Kensington Palace for consideration in the refurbishment of Windsor Castle.
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