It appears to be unfinished.  Any chance it was in the process of
manufacture locally and discarded for some reason?

Jeanette McKenna
California


> [Original Message]
> From: Bob Skiles <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 2/22/2007 1:23:00 PM
> Subject: please help identify this item
>
> Dear Listers,
>
> This item was found by a bulldozer operator in the vicinity of a major
institutional building (constructed 1937 with major additions/modifications
ca 1948, in Tyler, Texas); it "weighs close to 15 pounds. Size: 1" thick, 
14" tall  x 7 3/4" wide [larger end]  x 5 1/8" [smaller end]" and is
believed to be made of some type of slate (this and the photos is all the
information I have):
>
> http://skiles.net/Tyler.jpg
>
> We've agonized over this on the Texas Archeological Society discussion
list and our best guess (among many) is that it's a sundial of the
vertically mounted variety that one commonly sees (saw) embedded above
entrances in buildings, similar (in very general respect only) to this one
in a building constructed at Yale in 1930, but perhaps serving as a
pseudo-keystone veneer piece [<- I expect any architectural historians on
the list to lacerate me for this term, but I don't know what the correct
architectural term might be] above an arched entryway:
>
> http://skiles.net/yale.jpg
>
> or this example in the carillion tower at the Bok Sanctuary in Florida:
>
> http://skiles.net/bok.jpg
>
> Some of our more knowledgeable members see a certain [perhaps Buddhist
influenced] Art Deco flavor in the design elements [for example, the dial
element is said to resemble a stylized lotus].
>
> First, can anyone confirm that this is a sundial? Has anyone seen or can
point-out a reference/photo to/of a sundial in anywise similar to this? Any
comments on the iconography would be most appreciated, too.
>
> ~ Bob Skiles