Sundial

Copp Family · ca 1750

The Copp family of Stonington, Connecticut used this pewter sundial around 1785. The dial has three holes to mount the sundial horizontally, with the initials “NM” cast at the clocks’ “6” position. Accurately aligning the tip of the sundial’s gnomon to true north allows the gnomon’s shadow to fall on the hour of the dial plate. The NM is possibly Nathan Miller from Rhode Island, the son of founder Josiah Miller, whose name appears on several similar sundials of the era.