Armillary Sphere & Curious Tellurians

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A thorough selection of various tellurians, planetariums, armillary spheres, & orreries.

19th Century

Copernican Armillary Sphere

French Copernican armillary sphere, on an ebonized wooden column. Bass rings representing the equinoctial and solstitial colures . Ecliptic dial inscribed every 10°, with months/zodiac in French.  Sun sits atop the central column. Earth & moon are at end of a 3-gear transmission, keeping earth’s axis aligned with celestial poles. Nine ivory balls, on bent steel ribbons. The 4 balls mounted between Mars and Jupiter represent the newly discovered planetoids in the asteroid belt. Uranus, the last planet shown, indicates a post-1781 build. The lack of Neptune indicates this armillary was likely constructed before its discovery in 1846. Circa early 1800's.

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20th Century

The Torica Astroglobe- Ptolemaic Tellurian

MCM Torica "Astroglobe" Tellurian by Tokyo Instrument Manufacturing Company Limited, Tokyo, Japan. Circa 1963. An interesting Ptolemaic view of our cosmo's. Functional & complete original.

Featured in The Science Museum Group.

Featured in The Scientific Instruments Collection at The University of Toronto.

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20th Century

1950's Retro Electric Tellurian

Interesting & functional geared electric Mid-century Retro Tellurian. Unsigned, Japanese made for American market, circa 1950. 4-inch globe. Original, functional piece, with smooth and accurate gear rotations.

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20th Century

Musser Copernican Planetarium Prototype

1962 Chicago's World Fair Musser Prototype Model Copernican Planetarium.

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