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Chess-set
Cast bronze, German, 19th century.

Chess is the oldest and most universal of war games. European chess is directly descended from an Indian game, played in the 7th century, and forms of chess are also played in China and other parts of Asia. It was popular across Europe from the Middle Ages, a civilized and leisured pastime that has a huge literature. The varied and colourful pieces of the chess-set have always stimulated the imagination of writers, as in Alice Through the Looking Glass, or, right up to date, in the first of the Harry Potter books.

Chessmen come in a bewildering variety of materials and forms. Ivory was the preferred substance from which chessmen were carved, but bone, rock-crystal, jasper, amber, ebony and other hard woods were also used. Some chessmen are represented as human figures, the kings and queens crowned and the knights mounted on horseback, while the pawns are foot-soldiers.

Conventional chessmen, however, were made more simply, in formalized shapes to indicate the piece represented. The king, in medieval sets, was shaped like a throne, the knight as a cylinder, the pawn like a thimble. These simple, chunky forms gradually became more stylized and elegant, and could be exquisite examples of the carver’s art.

Our striking and dramatic set pits Roman soldiers against Germanic tribesmen, and is made from cast bronze, one side gilded, the other blackened. Such “historical” chessmen were popular in the 1860s, and the tribesmen pawns with their spiked clubs and round helmets are typical of the period. This set is particularly finely finished, with lofty, flagged castles, knights on rearing horses, and the Romans resplendent in crested helmets, with drawn swords.

Three Early 18th-Century Simple Microscopes

The simple microscope uses a single lens, as opposed to the compound instrument, which employs three or more lenses in line. The variations in simple microscopes depend on how the lens is mounted, and how focus is achieved. A popular type of simple instrument throughout the 18th century was known as the compass microscope, with two arms hinged above the handle, one holding the lens, the other the rod and forceps supporting the specimen.

At the very end of the 17th century, a Dutchman, Nicolaas Hartsoeker, invented another design, known as the screw-barrel, and this was introduced into England by James Wilson, continuing to bear his name. The screw-barrel consists of a wide-threaded cylinder which is screwed in or out of the main barrel to focus slides held between brass plates. The barrel can either be held to the eye with a handle, or mounted on a stand. Both these instruments were generally used to examine botanical and other commonly found specimens, and these could be either transparent or opaque.

The viewing of opaque objects was greatly improved by the invention of a German anatomist, a cup-shaped silver mirror to fit round the lens, providing proper illumination from the eye side. These are to be found with nearly all 18th century simple microscope kits, and are known as lieberkuhns, after their inventor.

	A botanic microscope of the compass type with a wooden case (5 x 31/2 ins.) covered with black fishskin, and lined with green velvet. The handle is ebony and there are three lenses, all with lieberkuhns. The rod has stage forceps at one end and at the other a pair of grippers to hold a phial (pictured in the case) for aquatic specimens. A brass rod with twisted end is provided to clean the phial. Also present are tweezers to hold specimens, a black/white disk, and a small live box, intended to hold insects. It is rare to find such kits complete with all their accessories.
	A Wilson-type screw-barrel microscope, signed: E Culpeper Londini, in a fishskin-covered case. Edmund Culpeper (c.1666-1738) was a leading London instrument maker, well-known for his screw-barrel microscopes, and for the innovation of providing these simple instruments with folding stands, and an additional tube with an eye lens, to convert them to compound microscopes. This example of a Culpeper ivory screw-barrel is complete with four numbered lenses with protective covers, and a paper-covered box to hold ivory slides. Also provided are a brass slide for aquatic specimens, a talc box to hold brass split rings and mica disks for the slides, a brass and ivory attachment to enable larger specimens to be viewed at a greater distance, and stage forceps with the typical Culpeper rectangular brass plate, bearing floral decoration and the initials EC
	This simple/compound microscope is unsigned, but of the Culpeper type described above.  A brass tripod stand with folding feet holds, by a ball joint, a brass screw-barrel microscope with a blackened ivory compound attachment (total height 10 3/4 ins.). At the side of the stand is an articulated arm, also typical of Culpeper, holding a bull’s eye lens. There are five brass-mounted lenses, a talc box with brass spring clips, a fishskin-covered box of ivory slides, a brass wet cell, tweezers, glass phials, and stage forceps with a black/white disk at the other end, and the typical rectangular central portion. Finally, there are the wooden handle for holding the simple microscope, and a brass extension to allow more distance for viewing, as above. The case is typically covered in black fishskin.

Case of Miniature Silver Cutlery
Early 18th century

The appeal of the miniature is universal and irresistible. It is certainly not only children who love a dolls’ house, and collectors abound of tiny silver objects, books smaller than matchboxes, and model soldiers in the uniforms of every war that has ever been fought.

The Dutch have always been the most important producers of miniature silverware, and they have given names to the different categories in the field. The particular term for this superb cutlery set is poppengoed, meaning doll’s ware. These items were of a size to be used by little girls playing at being mistress of the house. The penny coin in our photograph shows that the knives, forks and spoons are just right for a small child’s hand.

The quality of the set and its design place it firmly in the early part of the 18th century, and it may well be Dutch. The shaped and fitted case is covered in fishskin, the material often used for microscope boxes of the period, and lined with velvet.

The braidedging is a Continental rather than an English feature. The silver lock eschutcheon and carrying handles are particularly fine details. The shape of the knife handles, and the three-pronged forks also point to an early date.

18th Century Shop Sign Painted Wood Model of a Naval Officer.

Dickens, in Dombey and Son describes them perfectly: “little timber midshipmen in obsolete naval uniforms, eternally employed outside the shop doors of nautical instrument makers in taking observations of the hackney coaches”. In Dickens’s day, this type of shop sign had already been around for some considerable time. The earliest shop signs were painted boards, conveying the nature of the business without use of the written word. By the end of the 18th century, however, projecting signs were becoming a hazard in London streets, and were being prohibited by law. It was at this time that the wooden model figure became a popular substitute, first in England and then in the United States. Our naval officer, in his epauletted coat and cocked hat, holding his sextant ready for use, is a particularly good example. The face is full of character, the hands well modelled, and no detail is omitted - notice the fob watch hanging below his coat. Standing about 26 inches high, this figure, rich in historical associations, would make an unusual impact in a hall or study.

Set of 8 Wooden Brackets Portraying Ships’ Sterncastles.

If you are looking for something really unusual to decorate a study or office wall, how about this group of model sterncastles, maximum height 9 ins.. Nothing could more immediately evoke the appeal of the great three-masted sailing ships than these colourful painted brackets, showing the splendid, wide windows of the state cabin. Anyone who has visited the Victory at Greenwich, or any other 18th century ship open to the public, will be aware that the ship’s stern was the part most decorated, both outside, and in the interior, where the most spacious accommodation was provided. It is difficult to know where and when these rare brackets originated; probably they were commissioned for some nautical setting, perhaps a shipping office or even a waterside inn. They are likely to date from the late 19th century, and are probably Dutch. From their form, they may well have been used to display examples of blue and white china.

Ophthamotrope Mid-19th century, to the design of Hermann Knapp.

This remarkable instrument was the invention of a pioneer of physiological optics. Hermann Knapp was born in what was then Prussia in 1832, and studied medicine at Giessen University. He then found his specialism in ophthalmology, and became professor of the subject at Heidelberg. In 1868 he moved to New York, where he lived until his death in 1911. He founded the New York Ophthalmic and Aural Institute, and successively held a professorship in two leading medical colleges.

This instrument, 10 inches high, has a pillar stand of brass with a horizontal bar at the top from which three brass rods project. An earlier version, of which there are surviving examples in museums, was made with a wooden framework. The two outer rods hold the eyeballs, made from painted wood, and the central bar holds the mechanism for the oblique muscles. The eyballs are held in place by strings which represent the eye muscles, kept taut by brass weights. The eyeballs are free to rotate in all directions. The degree of shortening or lengthening of the muscles is recorded on a millimetre scale at the back of the horizontal bar.

Knapp’s ophthalmotrope was an simple version of the teaching device, which later incorporated lenses mounted on the eyeballs. The second half of the 19th century was a period when much fundamental research was carried out in the field of optics, and the complex operation of the eye was at last fully understood.

This instrument, in excellent condition, would be a rare and important acquisition for any collector of medical apparatus.

18th Century Glass Stethoscope

No, it’s not an angel trumpet, but a superb medical instrument! The survival of this rare stethoscope (173/4 ins high) for over two hundred years is remarkable enough, but it is also an interesting example of medical history. The technique of auscultation, that is, listening to the body, usually the heart or lungs, to detect irregularities, is an old one. Many different types of stethoscope were devised and made, some, as in this case, with the intention of keeping a safe distance between the patient and the doctor, avoiding contagion. This splendid example of the glass-blower’s art was also easy to keep sterile.

BOOK list

The Gallery Offers an exclusive list of books on historic scientific instruments, some out of print (marked with an asterisk) and therefore difficult to obtain, others hot off the press. Below is a selection of the titles available.

FIFTY ONE THIRTY.

Model FRENCH CANNON
Post-2854, length 33 inches. Price: £16,000.

This superb scale model is of a French 12-pounder howitzer, first introduced during the Crimean War of 1854. In the early years of the 19th century, the French adopted a single calibre for all their field artillery, choosing the 12-pounder. Since their 12-pounder was much heavier than the British equivalent, they developed a lighter version, the 12-pounder gun/howitzer, firing an 8-pound shell.

A splendid example of this gun was presented to Queen Victoria by the Emperor Napoleon III in 1858, complete with its limber and wagon, containing stores, tools, and ammunition. It is now housed in the Rotunda Museum, Woolwich. This is the gun that is exactly reproduced in our model, the cannon itself of gleaming brass, the mahogany wheels steel-rimmed, the ammunition box of iron. As an example of meticulous workmanship, a striking and elegant ensemble, and a reminder of the stirring days of horse-drawn field artillery, this model is unrivalled.

Sentry-box HUMIDOR
English, late 19th century, height 21 inches. Price: £12,000.

Just the thing to provide a talking point in an Edwardian gentleman's smoking room, this cigar cabinet features a secret locking device (without which the servants might help themselves to an illicit smoke), and is also disguised as a sentry box, complete with a painting of a Corporal of the Coldstream Guards. The painting of the sentry, signed by R.Simkin, a well-known military artist of the period, is brilliantly coloured, and extraordinarily convincing as an example of trompe-l'oeil. He looks as though he is actually standing within the box. For the cigar smoker who has everything, this is the perfect Christmas gift!

Leigh Smith's SEXTANT
in original pine box; mid-29th century. Signed: L.CASELLA Maker to the Admiralty & Ordnance LONDON No.3 Height 7 inches. Price: £5,700.

Maximum-minimum THERMOMETER
circa 1830, signed: W & S Jones, Holborn, LONDON. Height 22 inches. Price: £16,000.

In its original mahogany case with ebony stringing, this is a fine and rare example of this type of thermometer, invented at the end of the 18th century. The inventor of the maximum-minimum thermometer was James Six (1731-2793). His family had settled in Canterbury as refugees from the Continent in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and worked as silk weavers for generations. James Six himself was trained in the family business, which was by then declining because of cheap imported silks from India and Persia. He became interested in natural philosophy, and devoted himself to meteorology, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1792. The Society published in 1782 an account of the thermometer that Six had invented two years earlier, his election being the result of this and other papers he had published on meteorology. The remarkable features of Six’s instrument were that it recorded both extremes of temperature in the absence of an observer, and that it was both robust and simple to use. It was used professionally in meteorology and oceanography for at least a hundred years, until more accurate instruments became available, but remained popular in the home. The firm of W & S Jones spanned, through different generations and names, a century and a half. The first William Jones was apprenticed to William Scarlett in London in 1709, and the firm survived until 1859.

Pair of 9-INCH GLOBES
By John Senex of London, dated 1738. Price: £48,000.

John Senex, engraver and seller of maps and globes, was one of the leading cartographers of the 18th century. The son of a Shropshire gentleman, he started his apprenticeship to Robert Clavell of the Stationers' Company in 1695; thus he was probably born around 1680, and he died at his London home in 1740. The basic skill of engraving could be used in different ways. Senex produced a series of plates for London almanacs, and also for Sir William Browne's Account of Microscopes and Telescopes, but from 1706, he became involved in map production. He worked first with Charles Price, and later in partnership with John Maxwell, at the Globe, in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street. In 1714, Senex and Maxwell published an English Atlas, and in 1721, A New General Atlas. Many of his maps are now in the possession of Trinity College, Dublin.

Around 1724, Senex moved into Fleet Street itself, opposite St Dunstan's church. By this time, he was well-known among scholars in his field, for he published Calculation of Solar Eclipses by William Whiston, a Cambridge don and one of Newton's friends. In 1728, Senex was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London where he delivered learned papers on astronomy.

The globes of John Senex are remarkable for their engraving and cartographic skill, and also for the knowledge of astronomy that they display. This pair of 9-inch globes, a rare size, comprises a celestial globe, and a terrestrial globe with the following cartouche:

A New GLOBE of ye EARTH/ corrected from the Observations commu/nicated to the ROYAL SOCIETY of LONDON/ and the ROYAL ACADEMY OF PARIS/ by John Senex F.R.S./ and sold by I Senex at the Globe /against St Dunstans Church in/ Fleet St/ London 1738

The globes are supported on their original oak stands, with four turned legs on bun feet.

Following John Senex's death in December 1740, his Will left his entire estate to his wife, Mary, who continued the business for the next fifteen years with great success. This brief biography reveals two of the little understood facts about the makers of historic scientific instruments. Firstly, they were often men of good birth and considerable intellect, who suffered little, if at all, from class distictions. There is a respectable list of makers who became Fellows of the Royal Society. Secondly, a number of women, wives, sisters, or daughters, joined their menfolk as working partners, and were fully competent to continue the business in their own right.

Automated FIGURE CLOCK
German, mid-29th century, height 18 inches. Price: £6,000.

The display of lifelike effects in human and animal figures by the use of machinery dates back to classical antiquity. In religious and royal processions and parades, and at courtly entertainments, automata were a major attraction. But the arrival of the mechanical clock provided the most successful illusion of animation, the earliest preserved example being the monumental cock above the Strasbourg cathedral clock, which crowed, spread its feathers and wings, and turned round. From the 15th century, Germany has produced some of the most ingenious automata, particularly in such centres of fine craftsmanship as Augsburg. Then, in the 19th century, the great age of mass production, the toy industry of the Black Forest took over. Our clock is a particularly engaging example of this type of German work, in excellent condition. The cheerful musician's eyes move in time with the clock's pendulum, and a drawpull on the two-day movement activates the strike mechanism and Cupid, pedalling a grindstone to sharpen his arrow. This is a collector's piece, for the quality of the modelling, and the charm and gaiety of the subject.

Artist’s articulated model of a HORSE & RIDER
French, late 19th century, height 24 inches. Price: £18,000.

It is said that Sir Alfred Munnings, most famous for his paintings of hunts and race meetings, kept an articulated model of a horse and rider prominently displayed in his studio. The purpose of these beautifully crafted models was to show exactly how the animal and the human figure moved in relation to each other. This model is fully articulated, and can be moved manually in any position. There is a spring mechanism below the base-board which may be adjusted with a key. It has the added interest that it was retailed originally by the firm of Lechertier Barbe Ltd., 95 Jermyn Street, just a few doors up from the Gallery.

Group of POCKET & MINIATURE GLOBES
English, 18th and 19th century

1. 3-inch pocket globe, inscribed: LANE'S improved GLOBE LONDON, early 19th century. Simulated fishskin case, lined with celestial gores. Price £5,900.

2. 3-inch pocket globe inscribed: NEWTON'S New & Improved TERRESTRIAL GLOBE, published by Newton Son & Berry 66 Chancery Lane LONDON. The firm was at this address from 1830 to 1838. Simulated fishskin case lined with celestial gores. Price: £5,900.

3. 6-inch globe, inscribed: MANNING'S/ New & Improved/ TERRESTRIAL/ Globe/ Containing the latest Discoveries/ TO THE PRESENT TIME/ Pubd by Jas Manning 1858.
Supported on a graduated brass meridian ring and turned mahogany tripod. Price: £12,500.

4. 23/4-inch pocket globe, inscribed: DARTON & CO 55 Gracechurch Street LONDON 1809. Simulated fishskin case, lined with celestial gores. Price: £5,900.

5. 23/4-inch pocket globe, attributable to Herman Moll of London, c. 1775, inscribed in interior: A Correct GLOBE With y New Cons:telations of Dr Halley & c. Fishskin case lined with celestial gores. Price: £6,000.

6. 3-inch pocket globe, inscribed: EBSWORTH'S improved POCKET GLOBE LONDON 1825. Original fishskin case lined with celestial gores. Price: £5,900.

7. 23/4-inch pocket globe, attributable to Herman Moll of London, c. 1775, inscribed in interior: A Correct GLOBE With y New Cons:telations of Dr Halley & c. Fishskin case lined with celestial gores. Price: £6,000.

8. 23/4-inch pocket globe, inscribed: DARTON & CO 55 Gracechurch Street LONDON 1809. Original fishskin case. Price: £5,900.

9. 23/4-inch pocket globe, inscribed: SILBERRAD 34 ALDGATE LONDON 1815. Original fishskin case lined with celestial gores. Globe engraved with major voyages of discovery of Captain Cook and others, showing Australia as New Holland. Price: £5,800.

10. Pair of 3-inch pocket globes, celestial and terrestrial. The terrestrial globe signed and dated J & W Cary, Strand, 1 April 1791; the celestial globe signed J & W Cary, Strand. Both in original fishskin cases. Price: £10,500.

EQUINOCTIAL DIAL
French, late 19th century, height 24 inches. Signed on hour ring: Grivolat, Horloger, Paris.Price: £5,750.

This graceful sundial is made from brass, steel and enamel. It is mounted on a balluster pillar with a tripod base, and is adjustable between 32o and 58o of latitude. The circular plate at the base of the arcs carries the scale for the equation of time. This type of sundial, being both universal and accurate, was very popular, particularly on the Continent.

TELLURIUM
French, late 19th century, height 17 inches, width 18 inches.
Signed: INSTRUMENT ASTRONOMIQUE M.VIVIEN DE ST MARTIN PAR AMBASSADE DE FRANCE DANS LE EMPIRE AUTRICHE-HONGARIE 1889. Price: £17,000.

This ingenious instrument, driven by clockwork, was devised to demonstrate the effect of the motion of the earth and the obliquity of its axis in causing the alternation of day and night, and the succession of the seasons. Such apparatus were used in the teaching of astronomy, both to adults in the demonstration lectures given by teachers of natural philosophy, and in schools and the home. All tutors and governesses were expected to teach "the use of the globes", as elementary astronomy was called. The large Earth globe has a small Moon globe on an adjustable rod in front of it, and in the centre of the apparatus is the Sun globe on a rod. Above the boxed clockwork mechanism is an hour wheel divided 1 to 24 , with a trident pointer on one corner. The months, in French, and the signs of the Zodiac are on the disk at the opposite end of the bar from the Earth globe.

Turned wooden NESTING GOBLETS in cylindrical case
German, 17th century, height of case 7 inches. Price: £12,000.

The Renaissance man prided himself on practical as well as intellectual skills. So princes and aristocrats, particularly in the German states, indulged in the hobby of turning ivory and fine woods. There are many examples in museums of exquisite ivory artefacts, displaying the skill of the turner. Wood examples are more rare, but limewood, with its hardness amd lack of grain, was popular, both for sculpture and for turning. The 28 cups of translucent limewood that fit within each other and into the tall goblet, housed in a turned case, are typical of this kind of work. In the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum in Braunschweig is a closely similar example, even down to the elegant case. These objects were part of the Herzog's collection, and may well have been made by him. The present set contains fewer cups than the museum example, which comprises 49, but the style of the whole group, and the exquisite quality of the turning, strongly suggest that it is of 17th-century workmanship.

Pair of CANNON DIALS French, 19th century
The larger signed: BOUCART PARIS 35 Q'DE L'HORLOGE, diameter 12 inches; diameter of smaller, 3 inches. Price: (large dial) £5,750; (small dial) £3,000

The cannon dial consists of a horizontal base, usually of marble or stone, on which are mounted a miniature cannon and two brackets, supporting a burning lens, and a gnomon. The bracket arms are set to the solar declination, so that when it is noon, the burning beam of light fires the gun. Some large specimens exist that were used to fire the noonday gun at ports or military camps, but far more common were smaller, and even miniature examples, as here. The cannon dial was patented in the early 1800s by Victor Chevalier, a Parisian instrument maker. They became popular throughout Europe, being made in London by Negretti & Zambra, and also sold in Germany. This pair are almost identical, except in size. The miniature example includes spirit levels for proper adjustment. They are elegant examples of a once popular but now rare type of dial.

BOOK list

The Gallery Offers an exclusive list of books on historic scientific instruments, some out of print (marked with an asterisk) and therefore difficult to obtain, others hot off the press. Below is a selection of the titles available.

FIFTY ONE THIRTY.

Galleon WEATHER VANE
Galleon Weather Vane, American, made from sheet copper; late 19th century; 6ft by 6ft (183cms), 3ft across.

This full-rounded hollow copper model of a 16th-century galleon is a particularly rare and fine example of the American craft of weather vane production. Vanes began to be made as a hand craft, first from wood, and then from sheet metal. Soon every farm and country house had to have one, animals, especially horses and the rooster being popular. As cities grew and large commercial building went up, more elaborate vanes were ordered to provide the finishing touch. So large and detailed a vane would have been made to order, perhaps for a shipping office, or for a sailing club. Unfortunately, its history is unknown. Its exquisite craftsmanship, however, remains, with the 6-foot hull moving on its supporting shaft at the touch of a finger, and the details of decks, masts, pennants and rigging wonderfully intact. The colour is the soft blue-green of weathered copper. Imagine this as a centre-piece for a courtyard or formal garden - irresistible.

Model DINING TABLE
Salesman's model of a mahogany Dining Table with leaf mechanism;Victorian period; 10ins (25.5cms) high, 18ins (45.6cms) wide, 18ins, extending to 36ins (91.5cms) long.

This is pure Lilliput - a perfect, detailed model of an extending Victorian dining table, with no fewer than five leaves to accommodate a growing family and parties of gargantuan size. The dining room was almost a Victorian invention, and the amazing meals eaten at these massive tables are described in the cookery books of the period, most notably Mrs Beeton's. Every well-to-do home needed a table that was adaptable from family to party use, and a series of leaves that could provide different lengths was an ideal solution. Those were the days when salesmen visited the home extensively, and this may well have been a demonstration model for such visits. Or it may have been used for shop or department store display. Either way, it is a lovely piece of work in its own right, and would make a delightful gift to a collector of Victoriana.

Brass RING DIAL
Massive brass Ring Dial, diameter 6.5in (16.5cms), width 2.5in (6.5cms); probably South German, datable to the late 15th century.

The altitude ring dial was made for use at a particular location, the time being found by measuring the solar altitude. This example is neither signed nor dated, but examination of the Zodiac scale in association with dating evidence makes it clear that it was made before the great reform of the calendar by Papal Decree in 1582. The largest of the early ring dials known until now is in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and measures 5 inches in diameter. It was made at Passau, near Munich, in 1696. More than a century earlier, Humfrey Cole of London made, in 1575, a ring dial measuring only 3 inches, a more typical sizing. This dial is therefore unique for its size, and, though undecorated, it is the work of an expert craftsman, who achieved a high degree of accuracy by engraving both sides of a flat strip of brass before bending it into a ring. Some of the number forms are like those found on German medieval instruments and monuments. The latitudes at which it was designed to be used are in the South German and North Italian regions of Europe. The dial was therefore most likely made in one of the great metal-working centres of South Germany, perhaps Augsburg, or in Vienna, around 1500.

Victorian ASTRONOMICAL TELESCOPE
Victorian astronomical telescope, 4-inch diameter, signed on brass end-cap: J.H.DALLMEYER LONDON late Andrew Ross. Contained in two boxes, with numerous accessories including a brass table stand; mahogany floor stand with equatorial mount.

The optical instrument firm founded in London by Andrew Ross in the early 19th century, the great age of the microscope, was highly successful, and diversified into selling telescopes and cameras, the special interest of Thomas Ross, Andrew's son. In 1850, a young German, J.H.Dallmeyer (1830-1883) joined the firm, and married Thomas's sister. After Andrew's death in 1859, the brothers-in-law went their separate ways. Thomas specialized in photography, while Dallmeyer continued the optical instrument trade, specializing in telescopes and objectives, two of which are in the collection of the Royal Microscopical Society. Observing the heavens was a recreational study that particularly appealed to the Victorians, requiring some knowledge and technical skill, and leading to proper wonder at the splendour and complexity of the natural world. This fine astronomical telescope, a particularly well preserved and complete example, shows mid-Victorian craftsmanship at its

Glass BALL CLOCK
Unusual glass 8-day Ball Clock by the Waltham Watch Co, USA; standing 9in (23cms) high; early 20th century.

This unusually large ball clock has New York time on its main dial, and on 6 subsidiary dials the time in London, Tokyo, Beijing, Karachi, Moscow, and Paris. It is a product of the famous Waltham Watch Company of Massachusetts. This New England town was a centre for fine clock and watch making from 1854, when Aaron Dennison (1812-1895), the man credited with solving the problems of early mass production of watches, settled there and established a factory. The business went though some difficult times, but survived, and in 1923 became the Waltham Watch and Clock Company. Two years later, this was simplified as the Waltham Watch Company. One of the Company's most characteristic products was an all glass ball table "watch", generally of the size to use at the bedside. But this example is strikingly large, and very rare.

SHIPWRECKS
Treasures from Shipwrecks: artefacts salvaged off the Cape Verde Islands, 1650-1806.

No one can resist the lure of hidden treasure. All over the world, skilled navigators, divers, and marine archaeologists are searching for the wrecks of ships that have foundered with valuable cargoes. Sailing ships were particularly vulnerable to being driven on to a lee shore, or into shallow waters, where they could go aground and and capsize, pounded by breakers. The West Indies is one of the most dangerous areas, and one where Spanish galleons loaded with the wealth of the New World often came to grief. Another area where there are many wrecks is the Cape Verde Islands off the west coast of North Africa. Shown here is a group of typically varied objects acquired by the Gallery from the Cape Verde salvage. Pride of place at the back goes to a superb terracotta tile of a ship in full sail, a most unusual and beautiful decorative object. Then there are a pestle and mortar and a sand-glass, perhaps from the captain's cabin, where the single-handed dividers at the front of the picture would also have been used in plotting the course. Of 18th-century origin are the conical lead sounding weights, and the two bronze signalling cannons. Domestic items are the pewter candle stick and set of plates. And there is money, too, not Spanish gold, but Swedish copper coins, and coin clusters of silver cob coins on a lead base.

BOOK list

The Gallery Offers an exclusive list of books on historic scientific instruments, some out of print (marked with an asterisk) and therefore difficult to obtain, others hot off the press. Below is a selection of the titles available.

FIFTY ONE THIRTY.

ARMILLARY SPHERE
Brass, on a wooden base; mechanical
double movement; Earth globe signed: Francis Watkins; datable to the turn of the 18th/19th centuries. Height, 181/2ins (47cms); diameter 9ins (23cms).

The armillary sphere, which originated in antiquity, has become an icon of science because of its elegant and evocative silhouette. Originally used for making astronomical measurements, it came into its own as an aid to teachers of astronomy in the 18th and 19th centuries.

This mechanical design was the invention of the teacher and author, James Ferguson, and was illustrated in his Lectures on Select Subjects of 1760. It was intended to demonstrate the seasons of the year, and the controls rotate either the whole sphere, to show the apparent motion of the heavens, or the terrestrial globe in the centre, to show the real motion of the Earth. A similar example, made by George Adams and dated 1790, is in the Teylers Museum, Haarlem, The Netherlands, differing only in being mounted on a brass tripod foot rather than a wooden stand.

The Earth globe in the centre of the present armillary is signed by Francis Watkins, one of the great names of London instrument making from the mid-18th century. After 1774, Watkins’ shop was at Charing Cross, and following the death of the first Francis Watkins in 1784, the business remained in the family and at the same address, eventually becoming Watkins & Hill in the mid-19th century. It is likely, given the connection with Ferguson, that the signature is that of the first Francis Watkins, though there were others in the family who later had the same name. Since Watkins had an extensive business, the whole armillary was probably made by him.

 

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QUADRANT
Printed paper on brass, signed: 1658 H. Sutton fecit;
complete with original leather case. Radius, 111/2ins (29cms)

This beautiful and complete instrument is unusual in several respects. A number of paper on wood quadrants by Sutton, dating from the period 1656 to 1665, are known, generally in museum collections. The use of brass for the mounting is far more rare, and has not so far been recorded for a Sutton quadrant. The quadrant is single-sided, not having on the reverse another printed paper quadrant with trigonometrical scales and a perpetual calendar, as is usual with the wooden examples. Here, the perpetual calendar has been included on the single side, together with the latitudes of five stars. This composite single printing makes it likely that the instrument was bespoke, with the side required mounted for rigidity on metal rather than wood, and with a protective case provided. The survival of the case is also a rare occurrence with historic instruments, and its existence has ensured that the quadrant is in mint condition.

Henry Sutton, who died in 1665, was a leading London scientific instrument maker. He is known to have sold the full range of mathematical instruments, and he also advertised and published extensively. At the time this instrument was made, his shop was in Threadneedle Street, behind the Royal Exchange. This quadrant, for which he engraved the copperplate in reverse for printing, reveals his exquisite skill with the burin. Sutton advertised that he made quadrants in brass and wood, and the demand for this important instrument clearly led him to produce the mounted printed paper models, of which this is an unusually interesting and complete example.

This horary quadrant has the altitude circles that are typical of Sutton’s style. As a commentator wrote in 1758, “Mr Sutton’s Quadrants ... are the finest divided Instruments in the World; and the Regularity and Exactness of the vast Number of Circles drawn upon them is highly delightful to behold.” The purpose of the instrument is to tell the time, by making astronomical observations using a plumb-line with a sliding bead.

 

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Grand Tour SOUVENIRS

Fine quality marble models of a Roman column, and temples, 19th century.
Height of central model, 27ins (681/2cms).

English country houses, from the great palaces like Blenheim and Chatsworth to the most modest manor, have one strong theme in common. All will have mementoes of the 18th and 19th-century owners’ travels in Europe, the so-called Grand Tour. No young gentleman could consider himself educated unless he had spent several months, perhaps even years, travelling in leisurely fashion across France to Italy - the ultimate goal - and then back through Switzerland and Germany. Many aristocratic families undertook similar journeys, and spent months in a rented villa or palazzo, enjoying the sun and the inexpensive service, and soaking up the sights.

The English have always loved Italy, and when it was necessary to return to answer the call of running the estate or entering politics, these travellers took back with them treasures to remind them of that wonderful civilization. Sometimes it was pictures, statuary or furniture; very often it was replicas of the graceful structures that abound in Rome, made with consummate skill in Siena marble by Italian craftsmen.

These particularly well-crafted and authentic examples are the type of ornament to grace any home, and are sure to be a topic of admiration and discussion.

 

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THERMOMETER
Signed at the top of the register plate: Dollond London; mahogany case;
mid-19th century. Height, 191/2ins (50cms); width 41/2ins (111/2cms).

This elegant and finely made instrument would grace any entrance hall or study, and is also of considerable historic interest. The mahogany case with a glass cover contains a mercury thermometer in front of a silvered glass register plate, divided into degrees Fahrenheit, from 213 down to -40.

What is of particular interest, however, is the choice of temperatures specified, and what they tell us about the great interest in the nature and effects of heat among scientists in the 18th and 19th centuries. For example, the temperature of the waters at Bath Spa had been analysed and published in a letter to the Royal Society in 1767; the torpid state of hedgehogs and marmots was the subject of an essay published in 1809; the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal gave the temperature of 82 degrees for the ocean under the Equator in 1820. Early and mid-19th century encyclopaedias give very similar lists, enabling this important thermometer to be dated with some certainty to around 1840.

 

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Dissected MODELS
of a tree trunk and a grain of wheat, the latter signed:
DOCTOR AUZOUX PARIS FRANCE; made from wood, paper, and plaster, with detailed labels; late 19th century. Height of tree trunk 141/2ins (37cms); length of grain of wheat 81/2ins (211/2cms).

Dr Louis Thomas Jerôme Auzoux (1797-1880) was a model-maker of genius, who, after qualifying as a doctor in Paris in 1822, devoted himself to creating anatomical models as teaching aids. To make these, he invented a form of plaster that could received the most delicate shaping and marking, but would set when dry to extreme hardness. Auzoux established a thriving model factory in his home town of Saint-Aubin, and extended his scope from anatomy to animal and plant life. Achieving an international reputation, he won gold medals at many exhibitions, including the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. The shop he founded in Paris to sell “Materiel didactique” still existed at the end of the 20th century.

Auzoux models are characterized by their extraordinary detail and close similarity to the original. They are also labelled most carefully, sometimes in script, sometimes with printed notes.

 

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BOOK list

The Gallery Offers an exclusive list of books on historic scientific instruments, some out of print (marked with an asterisk) and therefore difficult to obtain, others hot off the press. Below is a selection of the titles available.

Antique Dental Instruments	by Elizabeth Bennion*	£60.00
Antique Hearing Devices	by Elizabeth Bennion	£50.00
Collecting Microscopes	by G. L’E. Turner*	£50.00
Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers	by G. Clifton	£65.00
The Divided Circle	by J. A. Bennett*	£125.00
Drawing Instruments	by Maya Hambly*	£120.00
Elizabethan Instrument Makers	by Gerard L’E Turner	£79.50
The Geometry of War	by Jim Bennett & Stephen Johnston	£20.00
Globes of the Western World	by Elly Dekker & Peter van der Krogt*	£60.00
Globi Neerlandici	by Peter van der Krogt	£400.00
Globes at Greenwich	by Elly Dekker	£90.00
The Great Age of the Microscope	by G. L’E. Turner	£75.00
Ivory Sundials of Nuremberg	by Penelope Gouk*	£25.00
The Illustrated Longitude	by Dava Sobel & William J. H. Andrewes	£25.00
Marine and Pocket Chronometers	by H. Von Bertele	£100.00
Mathematical Instruments in Antiquity and the Middle Ages	by A. J. Turner	£55.00
Measure of Time		£10.00
Trevor Philip & Sons 25th Anniversary Catalogue Mémoire de Sabliers	by J. Attali	£65.00
Nautical Antiques	by R.W. D. Ball	£35.00
Public and Private Science (George III collection)	by A. Morton & J. Wess*	£125.00
The Quest for Longitude	edited by William J. H. Andrewes	£55.00
R B Bate of the Poultry 1782-1847	by A. McConnell	£10.00
Scientific Instruments 1500-1900	by G. L’E. Turner	£25.00
Sphaera Mundi	by Edward H. Dahl & Jean-Francois Gauvin	£50.00
Vulgar & Mechanic (Scientific instrument making in Ireland)	by J. D. Burnett & A. Morrison-Low	£70.00
Western Astrolabes (Adler Planetarium, Chicago)	by R.& M. Webster	£65.00
Sphaera Mundi	by Edward H. Dahl & Jean-Francois Gauvin	£50.00

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FIFTY ONE THIRTY.

Issue 5.

© Trevor Philip and Sons

 

50 assorted French Drug Jars

Can be purchased in sets of 2, 3, or 12, or, in some cases, individually.

The drug jar is a vessel made specially to hold medicaments, spices, herbs, and other preparations held in stock in the shops of apothecaries, who in past centuries sold items now available from both chemists and grocers. They were usually made of tin-glazed earthenware, sometimes known as faience, with richly-coloured, or blue, designs on a cream ground. Most of the preparations contained in drug jars were plant-based, using the herbs and spices we know today, and many more: cardamom, chicory, borage, mint, hellebore, sage, and of course, roses.

The name of the preparation would be written on the jar in Latin, generally in abbreviated form, for example: C.hiacint., A.Menthae.

Medical schools were founded in Italy and France from the thirteenth century, but the pharmacy came later, spreading into most towns and cities by the 1600s. Many drug jars have survived, particularly those of French make. Some can be seen in their original setting in traditional pharmacies preserved in museums, or in old monastic hospitals, where their decorative quality becomes clearly apparent.

 

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Binocular Microscope in case
with many accessories, signed: Husbands Bristol.

Late 19th century

The Victorian period was the great age of the microscope. Fundamental optical improvements had made it a fully professional instrument, yet it had lost none of its popularity with the amateur. The typical Victorian microscope is a superb piece of engineering, a massive base supporting the optical tube, or tubes, the construction of gleaming brass, and a comprehensive range of accessories, packed into a fitted mahogany case.

Massive is the only word for this microscope, whose brass-bound case takes two people to lift it. It came originally from the physics department of Bristol University, which clearly believed in supporting local business. Luckily, there was an established firm in the city from which a microscope could confidently be bought.

Thomas D.King had a good reputation among microscopists in the earlier years of the nineteenth century, and in 1858 his firm was succeeded by Husbands & Clarke, at the same address, 1 Denmark Street, Bristol. Various moves followed over the years, and the second name was dropped in signatures. The instrument trade was still centred in London, and this microscope has many of the features typical of the great metropolitan firms; a prism by Browning is included among the accessories. But it is of particular interest to find such an impressive instrument from one of the few quality provincial makers.

 

 

 

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Mechanical Orrery in case by R.B.Bate c.1820

A particularly fine and complete example of the portable orrery, used for teaching astronomy in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The model is housed in its mahogany case, which bears on the inside of the door the trade card of the maker, and a listing of “The Major Planets”. The coloured earth globe is by Cary. A spare ivory earth globe, and replacement planet balls are provided, neatly fitted at the top corner of the door, and even a oil lamp is included, so that an eclipse of the Moon can be demonstrated on the lunarium.

Robert Brettell Bate was the maker of this fine instrument, with its mechanical operation, silvered calendar plate, and attachments to demonstrate the Earth/Sun system, the tellurium; and the Sun/Earth/Moon system, the lunarium; and the movements of the planets, the planetarium.

Bate was one of the most prolific and best known of the London scientific instruments makers of the early nineteenth century. Born in Stourbridge in 1782, the son of a banker, Robert was first apprenticed to his uncle as a haberdasher in London. He became an instrument maker through his wife, who was the daughter of Bartholomew Sikes, the inventor of the hygrometer that bears his name. Robert Bate won the commission to make hygrometers for the Excise Office, and from this his business developed, until he was selling every kind of scientific instrument from his premises in Poultry, near the Royal Exchange.

 

 

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Elton’s miniature transparent orrery, dated February 1817

This is a very different type of orrery from Bate’s superb mechanical model, but is of great interest, because it shows that there was also a market for inexpensive devices to teach astronomy, a subject that appealed to a vast public. This attractive device consists of a roller blind, set in a mahogany frame with gilt brass mounts and feet. The blind is pierced with charming illustrations of the constellations and the heavenly bodies, and can be illuminated from behind by a window or a lamp. This very complete example still has the wooden back-board with its advertisement and dedication.

This orrery was produced by a publisher, not an instrument maker, and was dedicated to a successful lecturer in natural philosophy, as science was then described. Deane F.Walker (and interestingly, his “family”) had promoted “the Sublime Science of Astronomy”, and had devised the prototype of this orrery. Following the fashion for giving such teaching models elaborate Greek names, Mr Walker had called his device the Eidouranion.

Elton’s name for it, the transparent orrery, is sensibly explicit, and he provides the firm’s address: Princes-Street, Cavendish-Square, with the exact date, February 1817. Written in ink on the backboard are the names of various owners throughout the nineteenth century.

 

 

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The Battle of Cape St Vincent

Oil painting, signed R.B.Spencer II, 63x105cm

Nelson, Cape St Vincent, battleships under full sail – all are full of high drama that has lost none of its appeal today. This superb marine painting, rich in colour and movement, yet subtly detailed, depicts Nelson attacking two Spanish men of war in a successful engagement that resulted in his being appointed a Knight Commander of the Bath and Rear Admiral.

Robert Spencer was a successful ship portraitist of the mid-nineteenth century, a number of whose paintings are to be found in the collection of the National Maritime Museum as well as museums at Salem and Newport in the United States. He was equally at ease with paintings of individual ships, and battle scenes.

 

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Versatile Ivory: Model of the human eye in ivory (17th century), and decorative examples of ivory turning (19th century)

Stephan Zick of Nuremberg made remarkable anatomical models from ivory in the second half of the seventeenth century. Some were of complete human figures, but one of the most remarkable shows the structure of the eye, with parts that fit together into a socket on an ivory stand. The eight components comprise items made of wood and glass, as well as ivory.

Ivory turning was the hobby of kings and princes in the eighteenth century, and its popularity has continued, since this hard and durable material is comparatively easy to work, and supremely beautiful in the finished form. A pair of notably graceful examples of the ivory turner’s art have been mounted on wooden stands.

 

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BOOK list

 

The Gallery Offers an exclusive list of books on historic scientific instruments, some out of print (marked with an asterisk) and therefore difficult to obtain, others hot off the press. Below is a selection of the titles available.

Antique Dental Instruments	by Elizabeth Bennion*	£60.00
Antique Hearing Devices	by Elizabeth Bennion	£50.00
Collecting Microscopes	by G. L’E. Turner*	£50.00
Directory of British Scientific Instrument Makers	by G. Clifton	£65.00
The Divided Circle	by J. A. Bennett*	£125.00
Drawing Instruments	by Maya Hambly*	£120.00
Elizabethan Instrument Makers	by Gerard L’E Turner	£79.50
The Geometry of War	by Jim Bennett & Stephen Johnston	£20.00
Globes of the Western World	by Elly Dekker & Peter van der Krogt*	£60.00
Globi Neerlandici	by Peter van der Krogt	£400.00
Globes at Greenwich	by Elly Dekker	£90.00
The Great Age of the Microscope	by G. L’E. Turner	£75.00
Ivory Sundials of Nuremberg	by Penelope Gouk*	£25.00
The Illustrated Longitude	by Dava Sobel & William J. H. Andrewes	£25.00
Marine and Pocket Chronometers	by H. Von Bertele	£100.00
Mathematical Instruments in Antiquity and the Middle Ages	by A. J. Turner	£55.00
Measure of Time		£10.00
Trevor Philip & Sons 25th Anniversary Catalogue Mémoire de Sabliers	by J. Attali	£65.00
Nautical Antiques	by R.W. D. Ball	£35.00
Public and Private Science (George III collection)	by A. Morton & J. Wess*	£125.00
The Quest for Longitude	edited by William J. H. Andrewes	£55.00
R B Bate of the Poultry 1782-1847	by A. McConnell	£10.00
Scientific Instruments 1500-1900	by G. L’E. Turner	£25.00
Sphaera Mundi	by Edward H. Dahl & Jean-Francois Gauvin	£50.00
Vulgar & Mechanic (Scientific instrument making in Ireland)	by J. D. Burnett & A. Morrison-Low	£70.00
Western Astrolabes (Adler Planetarium, Chicago)	by R.& M. Webster	£65.00
Sphaera Mundi	by Edward H. Dahl & Jean-Francois Gauvin	£50.00

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FIFTY ONE THIRTY.

Issue 4.

© Trevor Philip and Sons

 

Bronze & marble 31/2 foot model of the Fontana delle Tartarughe in Rome

This superb feature, to enhance a conservatory or grace an entrance hall, was recently sold by Trevor Philip & Sons. Rome is a city of fountains. There is the famous Fontana di Trevi, with its fantastic waterscape of gods, tritons and horses rising from sculptured rocks, where every visitor must throw a coin into the water to ensure a return visit to the imperial city.

The Piazza Navona has three fountains, including the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi by Bernini, with huge figures representing four of the world's great rivers, topped by an Egyptian obelisk. But even the tiniest piazzas often boast exquisite fountains, and one of the most attractive of these is the Fontana delle Tartarughe, the fountain of the tortoises, in the little Piazza Mattei. This delicate sculpture was commissioned by Giacomo della Porta in 1581, and the bronzes are the work of Taddeo Landini. Each figure of a youth holds a dolphin with one hand, and with the other upraised arm supports a drinking tortoise.

The water flows from the upper basin through the mouths of the dolphins and four putti heads into the marble bath below. One of the tortoises that cling engagingly to the rim of the basin, was stolen, so the other three precious original bronzes are now in safe keeping, and replaced by replicas.

 

 

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Late 19th - century 30 inch TERRESTRIAL GLOBE
by the Johnson brothers of Edinburgh,
on a superb carved stand.

 

 

This is a rare example of the largest globe made by the Edinburgh craftsmen, William and Alexander Keith Johnson, which won awards at the Great Exhibition of 1851. The brothers worked originally for Kirkwood & Sons of Edinburgh, and then set up in business on their own account, in the 1820s, with great success.

The globe is inscribed: 30 inch terrestrial globe by W & A.K.Johnson Geographers, engravers and printers, Edinburgh & London and bears the Royal Coat of Arms in the cartouche. The magnificent mahogany stand has, in boxwood inlay, the words ASIA, EUROPA, AFRICA, AMERICA, below the horizon ring, and the points of the compass at the base of each leg. The four legs are in the form of fluted pillars with lion's paw feet, each topped with a finely carved and highly distinctive head, representing a Continent. Below, the stand rests on five turned roundels. The craftsmanship and condition of this exceptional globe are so remarkable that it can be described as a unique collector's item.

 

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POCKET & MINIATURE GLOBES

This group of highly collectible pocket and table globes emphasises that at the Jermyn Street gallery can be found the widest possible range of globes, including some that would make ideal Christmas gifts.

 

 

Clockwise, from left: 1 Late 18th-century cased pocket globe by Nicholas Lane. 2 Pocket globe in case, retailed by Cox of Barbican, London,1835. 3 5-inch terrestrial globe on stand by Abel-Klinger of Nuremberg, after 1852. 4 Pocket globe in leather case from Williams & Haydon, Aldermanbury, London, c. 1839.

5 Pocket globe in fishskin case, signed by Nathaniel Hill, 1754. 6 Fine pair of table globes signed: T.Harris & Son, London, early 19th-century. 7 Pocket globe in leather case, signed by Charles Silberrad, dated 1815.

 

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Muskelmann

Artists' models, of the human body, and later of horses and other animals, have a long and interesting history that began, not surprisingly, in Renaissance Italy. Occasionally confused with children's dolls - and possibly sometimes serving both purposes -the jointed marionette, Gliederpuppe in German, was often carved with the skill and attention to detail that would have made them costly, and therefore part of an artist's equipment rather than playthings. This ancient and rare example, in fine walnut wood, dates from the end of the 16th century. It may, indeed, be one cited as lost from a Viennese collection. It should be described in German as Muskelmann, literally "muscle man", showing the body with skin and flesh removed so that the muscles can be clearly traced and accurately delineated.

 

 

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Gifts for CHRISTMAS

This group comprises a number of small, but extremely choice instruments, any one of which is a collector's treasure. The makers represented are masters of their crafts, whether it be two members of the famous Tucher family of Nuremberg; the superb early 18th-century, London instrument maker, Richard Glynne; or Troughton & Simms, notable early 19th-century partners.

 

Clockwise, from left: 1 Ivory diptych dial by Hans Tucher, signed HD with serpent and star mark, dated 1595 2 Miniature octant (radius 41/2 inches), signed RAMSDEN LONDON, mid-18th century 3 Polyhedral dial, ebony and coloured, printed paper, late 18th-century

4 Miniature boxed sextant by Troughton & Simms, c.1835 5 A second Tucher dial, this one by Thomas Tucher, undated, early 17th-century 6 Boxwood nocturnal, c. 1730 7 Gunner's callipers by Richard Glynne, superbly engraved, early example, dated 1715 8 18th-century boxwood pillar dial, 31/2 inches tall

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GLOBES AT GREENWICH

The long-awaited catalogue of the National Maritime Museum's superb globe collection is now published. Over 300 globes, armillary spheres, and planispheres are fully described, and the vast majority illustrated, in this handsome book by the leading international globe expert, Dr Elly Dekker.

Also included are nine introductory essays, and a special section on the Islamic globes by Dr S.Ackermann of the British Museum.

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TOY time A typical, and charming example of the German 19th-century toy and novelty industry is this "Black Forest" clock-vendor figure in polychrome metal, on a wooden stand. The clock he holds can be wound up with a key, and the pendulum swings.

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FIFTY ONE THIRTY.

Issue 3. December 1999

© Trevor Philip and Sons

All's Fair

The Grosvenor House Art and Antiques Fair is the great summer event for leading London galleries, and ours is no exception. Since 1994, Trevor Philip & Sons has been one of this privileged group, for all exhibitors are stringently vetted, as well as the objects they offer for sale each year.

The Fair was launched in 1934, and has gone from strength to strength; under the royal patronage of H. M. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, it has an international reputation. The Fair is held in 'The Great Room', the largest ballroom in Europe at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, once the London home of the Duke of Westminster. The building has a special atmosphere as exhibitors arrive and take over their stands, sorting out what goes where. Is the carpet the right colour? Do the lights work? There is much camaraderie, and we all borrow or lend a hammer, or screw driver. Saf and I will have every object on and off the stand three or four times, before we are satisfied.

Trevor Philip & Sons stand is to be found at the entrance to the ballroom - an excellent place to meet our old friends, and to make new ones. Attracting the widest imaginable range of visitors, the Fair is as much a part of London in June as Ascot, Henley and Wimbledon. Our clients include museums, celebrities and avid collectors of scientific and marine instruments; however, someone seeking an unusual gift will also find a wide choice of objects to choose from. The Fair is so much the highlight of our year that we start planning for the next year as soon as it is over. We even find ourselves asking "Is this a Grosvenor House object?", for what is chosen has to be really special.

Just how special was eloquently described in the introduction to the 1951 Fair Handbook:

"As a spectacle alone it is superb; clocks and furniture, silver and jewellery, bronzes, porcelain and a thousand other things which prove that man is only a little lower than the angels, all displayed in a single great hall."

Trevor Philip & Sons are proud to add such unusual items as the artefacts of science, with their precision and subtlety of concept, to this major event. The Grosvenor House Art & Antiques Fair is open from the 9-15 June 1999. Please contact us if you would like further information.

Pocket Sundial in silver,signed: Joshua Mann Ebor Fecit 1686

There is now a growing interest in the provincial instrument-making trade in Britain that certainly began as retailing of London-made products, but also had its own skilled craftsmen. Such men, as might be expected, were based in the major cities, and of these, York had a fine cultural and scientific flowering in the later 17th century. The group of scholars known as the York virtuosi created an environment in which craftsmanship flourished, and two skilled practitioners were the brothers Thomas and Joshua Mann.

 

Thomas Mann was primarily an architect, working on a number of building schemes, in particular the Market Cross at Pavement in York, sadly demolished in the 1813. He was also an engraver, as some fine signed memorial brasses bear witness. Joshua also has memorial brasses to his credit. York had some notable silversmiths in the late 17th century, before the city's assay office closed in 1716, and they may well have contracted out engraving to such skilled workmen as the Mann brothers. Not all of this will have been signed, but the lovely little silver pocket dial now in the gallery is signed and dated by Joshua Mann, the only example of an instrument bearing his name to have survived.

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Universal Ring Dial Signed by Hilkiah Bedford, c.1665, complete with printed instruction sheet

 Elegant as this ring dial is, the most exciting thing about it is the survival of its accompanying instruction sheet. The sheet, and so the instrument, are datable by the printed address of the maker: "at the Signe of the Globe near Holborn-Conduit". This was Bedford's first workshop, and it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. He then moved to Fleet Street. Very few instruction broadsheets have survived from the 17th century, and this is the earliest known so far.

 

Hilkiah Bedford was a skilled craftsman, with a number of fine instruments to his credit. There are four of his ring dials in museums, one of them in silver. His broadsheet notes that he makes mathematical instruments "in silver, brass or wood".

 

The broadsheet describes the various parts and function of the dial, and then proceeds to explain how to find first the latitude, and then the time. The particular cleverness of the universal ring dial is that it makes it possible to find the time at any location. Theinstrument was designed by the mathematician, William Oughtred, and Elias Allen and Hilkiah Bedford were the two instrument makers whom he recommended as making his invention. It is therefore likely that the text of Bedford's broadsheet comes from Oughtred's book, published in 1652.

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Engraving of a magnetic azimuth dial plate

by Henry Sutton, 1653 Plate measurement, 53/4 x 51/2 ins; diameter of dial 51/4 in.

Another item in our group of paper artefacts is this superb pull of a magnetic azimuth dial and compass rose, engraved and signed by Henry Sutton. It bears not only the year date on the dial itself, but also the full date: " August 16 1653" on the paper surround. A dial of this kind would have been intended for a horological compendium, or perhaps the base of a circumferentor, to be used by a surveyor. The design of the dial was first described by Arthur Hopton in his 'Topographicall Glasse' of 1611.

Henry Sutton , who was a Freeman of the Joiners' Company, was working in the middle years of the 17th century, and died in 1665. He was a fine engraver, famous for his engraved scales and the illustrations he provided for mathematical books. A printed paper-on-wood quadrant made by him bears the advertisement:

"This Instrument or any of the Mathematiques are made in Brass or Wood by Henry Sutton Instrument-maker behind the Royall Exchanges."

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PAPER GLOBES with instruction booklets

by Mrs Johnstone (1812) and Edward Mogg (1813)

The survival of card and paper artefacts from the early 19th century is unusual, and if they do still exist, they are frequently damaged. So these two sets of globes and booklets, in fine condition and with the original colours little faded, fully deserve the glass domes we have provided to preserve them.

Mrs Johnstone is an excellent example of the "scientific lady", of whom there were many examples in the 18th and 19th centuries, including Mary Somerville above all, but also Mrs Gatty and Mrs Ward. She was the daughter of John Lodge Cowley, Geographer to King George II, who taught at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He also drew the superb constellation figures on the glass globes made by Thomas Heath.

 "Brought up from my infancy to the sciences", Mrs Johnstone herself became a teacher, "instructing many of the Nobility, in the use of the globes, orrery, maps, projections". She taught "Ladies in the Use of Globes" at her house, 20 George Street, Tower Hill. The Dissected Pocket Sphere was her invention, and she firmly states that Mogg's version was a piece of plagiarism. The design is indeed something to be proud of, for it is a combination of terrestrial and celestial globes, capable of teaching both geography and astronomy, as well as time-telling.

Mogg's Celestial Sphere, "for the instruction of Youth in Astronomy" was produced for purely commercial purposes by a successful printer and mapmaker. Edward Mogg made his name by publishing maps and guides to London, that enabled travellers to triumph over dishonest cab drivers. There was clearly a good market for dissected globes, and Mr Mogg was determined to cash in on it: but the credit for an ingenious invention must go to Mrs Johnstone.

 

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A SPECIAL GIFT?

 

Composite Picture Clockwise from top left

 

 

1. 18th-century circumferentor, in an oak box. Signed on scale: "J.Search London"; James Search was working in Golden Square, London, from 1771. The retailer, whose trade card is in the box lid, was William Harris of High Holborn, London.
Price £ 2,400.00

 

2. French prisoner-of-war work, early 19th-century "Spinning Jenny" made of bone. With two figures wearing Breton hats; one figure holding a baby; all operating and moving from a central crank handle with a windmill.

Price £ 4,200.00

 

3. Early 19th-century marine chronometer in mahogany, brass-bound box, signed: Parkinson & Frodsham, Change Alley, Cornhill, London. This partnership specialised in chronometer making from 1801.
Price £ 8,250.00

 

4. Pocket 23/4 inch terrestrial globe in

fishskin case, signed by J & W Cary, and dated 1791. The globe shows Captain Cook's voyages on the Resolution and the Discovery in the 1770s.

Price £ 5,500.00

5. Artist's model in wood, 26 inches high, finely articulated and finished. Probably French, 19th century with carved face, feet and hands and a defined ribcage.
Price £ 4,200.00

 

6. Scrimshaw depiction of a three-masted ship on fire, polychrome, 19th-century; inscribed "Lieu. J.Petley R.N."

 

Price £ 6,500.00

 

7&8. Sandglasses, a single, and a fine pair, of varying time duration, mid

18th century. Manufactured from glass and brass.

No7 Price £ 2,600.00 No8 £ 2,500.00

 

 

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FIFTY ONE THIRTY.

Issue 2. May 1999

© Trevor Philip and Sons

Price: £17.00

2. Betts model globe without stand.

Price: £25.00

3. Betts model globe with stand.

Price: £35.00

4. Late 18th century pear-shaped spyglass, by Dollond of London, ivory and brass, in red morocco case.

Price: £650.00

5. Late 18th century green rayskin spyglass, signed on red leather, gold-tooled inner tube: Dollond, London; in fish skin case.

Price: £700.00

6. Late 19th century polychrome Staffordshire jug, depicting Nelson.

Price: £1,000.00

7. Folding, Gould-type microscope, circa 1830, signed Thomas Rubergall, London.

Price: £1,500.00

8. Unusual silver desk bell (hall-marked Birmingham 1913) in shape of a tortoise.

Price: £1,600.00

9. Model steam engine, signed Watkins & Hill, Charing Cross, London. Such models were made to illustrate scientific lectures throughout the 18th and 19th centuries; the wheels were fixed to run on a circular track.

Price: £3,200.00

10. Models of a cannon and a mortar, each bearing a brass plaque: "Wood and metal of the Royal George, sunk 1782, raised 1840"

Price: £3,750.00

11. Pocket globe in fish skin case, 2-inch, inscribed "Newton's New Terrestrial Globe 1818."

Price: £3,750.00

12. Fine two-day marine chronometer with original case and travelling box, signed: French, Royal Exchange, London. He was a clock maker at this address 1822-39.

Price: £5,500.00