This stunning 18th Century Italian sundial is made from a marble called carnico and is from Udine, Italy.  The marble has been incised and carved with ornamentation of Roman numerals, arrows, scrolls, 12 lines and a stylized version of the sun with radiating rays.  The hole for the gnomon is at the center of the sun.

There are many types of sundials, but basically the following is a brief description for most of them:
A sundial is a device that measures time by the position of the Sun. In common designs such as the horizontal sundial, the sun casts a shadow from its style onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. The style is the time-telling edge of the gnomon, often a thin rod or a sharp, straight edge. As the sun moves across the sky, the shadow-edge aligns with different hour-lines. All sundials must be aligned with the axis of the Earth's rotation to tell the correct time. In most designs, the style must point towards true celestial north (not the north magnetic pole or south magnetic pole). That is, the style's horizontal angle must equal the sundial's geographical latitude.

This rare antique Italian sundial from the 1700’s will bring much enjoyment to any collector. Condition: Rubs and chips to marble commensurate with age.