This item is in good condition. Minor oxidation and darkening throughout, especially towards the rim. minor scratches and scuff marks throughout. As viewed.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This simple astrolabe has a distinctive high throne with two large crab's clawꦿs at the bottom and two more at the top. The shackle is also tall and both it and the ring are original. An unusual curved pin to hold the ensemble toꩲgether is also decorated with a crab's claw.

Though the engraving is coarse and lacks the flair of the astrolabe in lot 142, there are several features suggestin✅g that it was inspired by this earlier piece.

The rete has a form typical of late Maghribi astrolabes and is clearly related to that of the first astrolabe, down to the unusually long pointer on the upper left rim and the omission of the name for Vega (al-wâqi'). There are pointers for 23 (=5+5+6+7) named stars within the four quadrants starting counter-clockwise from the vernal equinox on the left. Some of the na🍒mes are barely legible; others make little sense. (It should be realized that the star-names can usually be deduced from the position of the pointers; in this case they were copied from those on the first astrolabe.) The stars represented are:

batn (?) qaytûs / ra's al-ghûl / dabarân / qadam (?) al-??? / ??? ??? //

al-'abûr / ghumays[â'] / rijl al-dubb / shujâ' / al-ghur?? //

al-a'z?? / al-r[â]mih / 'unuq al-hayya / al-fakka / ??? al-'aqrab / ra's al-hawwâ' //

[al-wâqi'] (name omitted) / al-[t]â'i[r] / dhanab al-jady / al-dulfîn / al-ridf / ??? faras / dhanab qaytûs

The name for Altair (correctly al-tâ'ir) has been distorted to al-sâ'iw, following the name on the first astrolabe, which was written by mistake without the vertical line of the 't', and with a generous sharif on the top of the 'r', making it a little like a 'w'. The name al-'ayn on the lower right of the central disc on the first as🧜trolabe has here been garbled beyond recognition.

There are silver studs decorating the four knobs at the quadrants for rotating the rete and the back bears a typical solar - calendrical scale, on which the equinox is at March 10. Inside these, in the upper ha🔴lf is a double un🐼iversal horary quadrant, and in the lower half is a double shadow square to base 12.

The mater bears a remarkable set of concentric calendrical markings. A scale for the zodiacal si🐷gns surrounds a scale for the months. What is surprising here, and scientifically absurd, is that the months correspond precisely to the signs of the zodiac (instead of the equinox being at about March 10). No motivation for such a set of markings 𓂃comes to mind, except wishful thinking and scientific innocence.

There are four plates with astrolabic markings, in this case altitude circles for each 5° and azimuth circles for each 10°. On each plate there are special curves, each dotted, for various times of significance in the Islamic day: the prayers at nightfall (al-shafaq and al-fajr), the prayer at sunset (al-maghrib) and sunrise (al-mashriq), midday (al-zawal), and the prayers after midday (al-zuhr) and around mid-afternoon (al-'asr). The inscriptions read "(for the) latitude of _ where the latitude is _° ('ard _ 'arduhu _). The markings serve:

Makka - 21° / Medina - 25° / Marrakesh - 31°30' / Fez - 33°40' / Meknes - 34°30' / Algi🌱ers 35°

The markings for Algiers actually serve a latitude of about 37°. There is also a set of markings for the equator (al-mawdi' lâ 'ard lahu, "the place without latitude") and another universal set (li-jamî' al-'urûd, "for all latitudes", in the tradition 🎐of Ibn Bâso. The twilight curves on the former are at 30° above the horizon, rather than the more appropriate 20°.

The alidade is non-functional, since neither side passes through the centre, as on the first astrolabe.