Accession No

6133

Brief Description

walking stick telescope, by G. Willson, English, 19th Century

Origin

England; London

Maker

Willson, G.

Class

optical

Earliest Date

1800

Latest Date

1899

Inscription Date

Material

hide (leather); metal (brass, silvered brass); wood (steam-treated bamboo?); glass; plastic

Dimensions

Length 750mm; width 60mm; height 50mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Antiquites Scientifiques, M.Perret, Maitre opticien, 19 rue du Perron, Case postale CH 1211 Geneve 3, on or before 18/06/2007.

Inscription

G.WILLSON
LONDON (on eyepiece)

Description Notes

Walking stick telescope with leather strap.

Lenses in brass mounts. Long, pointed, silvered-brass screw-fit cover for the telescope eyepiece forms bottom of walking stick. Small silvered-brass screw-fit cap at objective lens end. Leather strap is attached to top walking stick. Top, where walking stick would be held, has section covered with coiled black leather. Bottom has section covered with coiled black plastic (a replacement of an original leather section?). Main body of instrument is covered by one long strip of steam-treated bamboo [?] wrapped around from top to bottom.

References

Events

Description
Despite its name, this walking stick telescope was not designed to function effectively as either. This walking stick incorporates a telescope, with the eyepiece at the base and the lens at the top end. Too fragile for consistent use as a walking stick, and ineffective as a telescope, such telescope sticks were made as gentlemen’s fashion accessories rather than as serious observational tools.
06/07/2009
Created by: Anna Judson on 06/07/2009

FM:46602