Accession No

6687

Brief Description

Double pillar compound microscope in box, French, 2/2 C19th

Origin

France

Maker

Class

microscopes

Earliest Date

1850

Latest Date

1900

Inscription Date

Material

metal (brass); glass; wood; felt(?); paper

Dimensions

262mm (width) x 138mm (depth) x 58mm (height)

Special Collection

Michael J. Clark Bequest

Provenance

Inscription

On brass locking mechanism, facing up when box is open, on the right side: "No.123" and then cruder markings resembling "YCC"

Description Notes

Double pillar compound microscope in box, French, 2/2 C19th

Hinging wooden box lined with felt (? soft orange material), with internal lock and key, and a brass-lined hole in the lid. The microscope is compound and of brass; swinging plane mirror in a gimbal at base of stand, two pillars on either side, one of which has a knurled knob at the top allowing the stage to be raised or lowered on a rack and pinion; the body tube is removable from the stand (eyepiece lens can also be screwed off of the body tube, and a removable sliding brass sheath allows the body tube to be screwed onto the stand); a small metal rod (probe?) sits in a sheath on the stand next to the body tube.

On the stand below the mirror is a screw with a threaded, knurled disc-shaped nut; by removing the nut, placing the screw through the brass hole on top of the box, and re-tightening the nut, the box can serve as a base for the microscope.

Two objective lenses can be screwed on to the base of the body tube. There are also six slides, labelled in French. Also extant is what appears to be a slide holder with two screws (though the slides are too big to fit through it).

Condition: good, incomplete (several empty slots in case)

References

Events