Accession No

0237

Brief Description

spyglass or prospect glass, by Jesse Ramsden, English, 1782 - 1800

Origin

England; London

Maker

Ramsden, Jesse

Class

optical

Earliest Date

1782

Latest Date

1800

Inscription Date

Material

metal (silver plate, brass); wood (mahogany, ebony); glass

Dimensions

length 65mm; max diameter 54mm; object glass diameter 49mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Inscription

‘RAMSDEN
LONDON ’

Description Notes

spyglass/prospect glass by Jesse Ramsden, 1782 - 1800.

3 drawer spyglass. Mahogany barrel with silver-plated ferrules. Object glass in threaded part silver-plated brass mount. 3 silver-plated brass draw tubes. Eye lens in ebony (?) mount.

Condition: fair (crack in eyepiece, silver tarnished); complete.

[Note on the date: 1782 is the date of J.L. Martin’s patent for drawing tubes of silver-plated copper, a patent to whose cost Ramsden had contributed. He then regularly purchased sheets of silver-plated copper, to make small spyglasses of this type]

References

Events