Golden Gate Park: Sun Dial



britton_1112.png mitchell_2178.png
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Left: Britton & Rey 1112. Right: Mitchell 2178. Because I have found so many nearly identical postcards with doctored images, I was initially suspicious of these images of the sundial at the museum in Golden Gate Park. They must be based on different photos, as the camera position obviously is further left for the Mitchell, but the vegetation and museum sunshade suggest that both date from roughly the same time. My guess, based on the shadow of the sundial gnomon: the photo at right was taken a few minutes before the photo at left. The taller man in the Britton & Rey card could be the man in the Mitchell; he appears to be black in the Britton & Rey, but of course all the colors are unreliable.

This distinctive turtle sundial by M. Earl Cummings was installed in GGP in 1907. It still stands in front of the de Young Museum in 2022, with the tip of the gnomon now missing. The current fluted marble base dates from a 1995 restoration; it looks like the base in these cards, but without the carved floral drapery.



Steve's SF postcard pages: