A rare piece of time is on display at the Dorset County Museum.
The 14th century timepiece, worth more than £200,000, is on display at the Dorchester museum and is one of only four of its kind in the world.
The gilt brass fan-shaped quadrant is dated 1398 and measures just 8cm across. There are two more like it in the British Museum and one more, which was recently found in Australia and was auctioned for around £200,000.
The quadrant, which is thought to have belonged to King Richard II’s half-brother John Holland, the Duke of Exeter, is being displayed in the museum’s Dorchester Gallery.
The piece of equipment would have been used to tell the time, using the height of the sun in the sky, before the invention of clocks and watches. It would be pointed towards the sun and read using a plumb line attached to the top. Engravings on the side also tell the months of the year.
Dorset County Museum director Jon Murden said: “We are proud to own such a rare and important piece.
“Instruments like this are hugely valuable in pinpointing moments of tremendous achievement and progress and we are very happy to be able to present such objects for the enjoyment and interest of the public.”
The British Museum’s exhibition Pharaoh: King of Egypt was also at the museum from October until the end of January. The display included over 130 objects, many of which have never been seen outside of London.
Egyptian themed workshops and activities were run at the museum alongside the exhibition.