nass_news_2011_march_historicaldial
[photo credit: Christie's ]

A rare stone, polyhedral sundial discovered in England, and thought to date from the Scottish renaissance, sold April 7, 2011 for £16,250 (\(26,500) at Christie's South Kensington, London. 

The sundial discovered in 1974, and thought to date from the Scottish renaissance, went on the auction block this April as part of Christie's Travel, Science and Natural History sale in London.  The dial is made of stone and technically described as a polyhedral dial, with several independent sundials arranged on different facets of the stone.  Pre-auction estimates placed a value somewhere between £7000 and £10,000 (\)11,400 and $16,300) but sold for nearly three times the initial estimate.