Accession No
1790
Brief Description
Compound microscope, Culpeper type, by Robert Brettell Bate, English, c. 1820
Origin
London; England
Maker
Robert Brettell Bate
Class
microscopes
Earliest Date
1820
Latest Date
1820
Inscription Date
Material
metal (brass); glass; ivory
Dimensions
height 335mm; depth125mm; breadth 133mm
Special Collection
Heywood collection
Provenance
Purchased from the H.Heywood collection under estate duty exemption benefit with the assistance of a Science Museum grant-in-aid.
Inscription
‘Bate London.’
‘£3.13.6’ (longhand in the box)
Description Notes
Compound microscope, Culpeper type, by Robert Brettell Bate, English, c. 1820.
All brass; circular base; swinging concave mirror; scroll type legs to circular stage with fitting for frog plate and stage forceps spring stage; spring clips below; scroll legs to collar with rack and pinion focus on a ‘body collar’; push fit body with screw fit snout and field lens; eyepiece screw fits to field lens; four objectives marked ‘1-4’; ‘3’; stage forceps; three 4-object ivory slides; frog plate; 1 flat and 1 dished glass; pyramidal box with drawer below.
References
Events
Description
This 'Culpeper'-type microscope was made by the London scientific instrument maker Robert Brettell Bate (1782–1847) in around 1820. It is based on a popular design style pioneered by the microscope-maker Edmund Culpeper.
Edmund Culpeper, an instrument maker and engraver of outstanding quality developed the tripod compound microscope in the early 18th century. He mounted the body on two tiers with tripod legs and added a mirror below the stage ( the part that holds the specimen). This made it possible to illuminate the specimen from below without having to hold the instrument to the light.
The 'Culpeper' form of microscope quickly became immensely popular and the design was copied by all the leading instrument makers of the 18th century. The materials used gradually changed as the century progressed, from leather, wood and brass, to all brass by 1800.
For more on Bate’s life and works, see Wh.6262.
30/08/2006
Created by: Corrina Bower; updated by Ruth Horry on 30/08/2006
FM:42945
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