Description

Background to J Parkes & Son from Microscope Museum:

Based in Birmingham, England, Parkes produced good quality microscopes and other scientific equipment and supplies from the mid-1800s until well into the twentieth century. Recognizing the burgeoning market of students and middle-class amateurs, they focused on inexpensive instruments. James Parkes began his business in 1815 as a manufacturer of small items such as jewellery cases and other metal devices. James’s only son, Samuel, became a partner in about 1846, forming J Parkes and Son. By the 1850s, J. Parkes and Son were producing a variety of microscopes. Their 1857 catalogue prominently featured microscopes and prepared slides. Large numbers are known of later microscope models that were manufactured by J Parkes and Son but sold by other retailers. Samuel continued the business under the same name after his father’s death in 1877. Samuel had only one son, also named Samuel. That son, and a nephew, James Moulton, continued the business after the elder Samuel died in 1896. Moulton left the partnership in 1908, and Samuel T.H. Parkes continued alone for a number of additional years, at least until the late 1920s. The Parkes’ “Worker” microscope, originally introduced during the 1890s and remained in production well into the twentieth century. Worker microscopes could be fitted with a wheel of apertures or have a microscope objective easily used as a condenser. The finish is mostly oxidized brass with some accents in lacquered polished brass. The mirror is both plane and concave. Parker microscopes usually show the Parkes & Son signature or the Parkes’ trademark of an ‘eye’. However, large numbers of these microscopes were produced with a brass plate unsigned for a retailer to affix his own signature. In this example the inscription on the brass plate states ‘Medical Supply Assoc^N, agents for J Parkes & Son’, suggesting therefore that this instrument was retailed by the ‘Medical Supply Association’. 

This example of a late Victorian Parkes instrument is in an appealing time-worn cosmetic condition giving it an interesting patination and no doubt quite a back story.  It’s a survivor from the last 125 years or so and the lacquered brass-work still catches the light as I hope the listing photos illustrate. The instrument’s look and feel is fairly solid in that’s it’s fashioned from solid brass, giving it a heavy feel and quite a presence when in use, with coarse focus and draw-tube fully extended.

Technical details – the construction is a black-painted brass tripod foot giving good stability.  From the tripod twin uprights supporting a pivot and a continental pillar-style upper limb.  Coarse focus is by a friction-fit optical tube in brass with additional draw-tube also in brass.  This sits in a mount held in place by friction and the focusing technique is by push-pull sliding of the main optical tube, which works surprisingly well giving smooth control of coarse focus adjustment with a nice intuitive tactile feel.  Fine focus is controlled by a brass thumb-wheel atop the continental pillar, which also works well giving good smooth fine adjustment. 

In terms of its optics, this microscope is fitted with an eyepiece as under:

– 6x magnification – probably original to the instrument
 
The eyepiece works well giving nice bright images.  It’s also got a double angled RMS turret and two good quality brass objective lenses as shown below:

– approx 1 inch  button objective by J. Swift & Son – 6x magnification
– 1/6th inch in brass by Ross, London – 40x magnification

The magnification available with its current set of optics is therefore 36x and 240x.  I’ve tested the optics with various antique slides and the images produced are perfectly acceptable when using good illumination.  

The instrument tilts for inclined viewing and holds in position through its working range as it should.  The specimen stage is square and solid brass, with holes for stage clips as fitted.  To the front of the stage is a wheel-of-stops with 4 aperture sizes available as demonstrated and smooth rotation.

Sub-stage lighting is via a double-sided plano-concave mirror in a brass carrier and gimbal mount, with a useful range of height and rotation adjustment, with usable period silvering. 

The instrument has been very lightly lubricated with non-hardening grease where necessary, so that the controls operate smoothly.  This example of a late Victorian Parkes microscope is very usable and also makes an interesting technical display piece.  It could be displayed in a library or home office type of setting, especially when set up with an appropriate antique slide such as the Victorian paper-covered slide I was using for testing purposes as shown in the listing photos. There’s no case with the instrument at the present time.

Owing to the weight and delicacy of this antique microscope, it will be partially dismantled, carefully wrapped for shipping and dispatched by insured courier upon receipt of cleared funds.  

Thanks for looking.