Description

James Parkes Medical-type Stand – circa 1890

This listing is for a nicely presented and well engineered antique medical-type microscope by James Parkes of Birmingham.  It dates to around 1890.  There’s no maker’s mark on the instrument as far as I can see, save a casting mark on the underside of the foot.  It was quite common during the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries for some manufacturers to produce unbranded examples which they sold in bulk to retailers.  Sometime retailers affixed their own details to the instruments, sometimes they were just sold unbranded.  The practice of one manufacturer producing bulk unbranded items which are then sold by another usually a retailer still exists, often termed white labelling these days. There’s a picture of the Parkes medical microscope in the listing photo stream reproduced from an 1880 article in the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society.

This Victorian example of a Parkes stand is in good original condition and has obviously been well looked after by its former custodians. It also benefits from clean objectives and eyepieces, a stage with original brass specimen retaining clips and the correct period storage case, which is also in pretty good condition.  It presents really well with this example having anodised and lacquered brass details which are just showing a few signs of age-related tarnishing, very much in keeping with light usage over the last 136 years.  This compact desk-top microscope is built with quality materials, with solid construction and skilled workmanship with most components probably hand-finished.  This is a sturdy quality period microscope in good original condition, fully working, with few signs of wear and bags of character and period charm.  It’s got a great look and patina and is a fantastic example of a compact brass Parkes instrument from the late Victorian era.

In terms of construction we have a heavy anodised solid brass foot, with twin uprights to the pivot with tension adjustment as required.  The upper limb is a Continental pillar-style in anodised brass.  The instrument’s main coarse focus is by a combination of friction tube and diagonal cut rack & pinion which works well with smooth action, holding in position as it should in its working range.  Fine focus is operated via a brass thumb-wheel atop the continental pillar which also has a smooth operation.  Turning to the optics, this medical-type microscope comes fitted with a graduated brass eyepiece draw-tube and a quality vintage eyepiece that with good illumination produce excellent images:

– approx 6x magnification 

There’s one vintage objectives as follows:

– 1/4 inch brass objective – 25x magnification, but also divisible giving around 15x magnification by removing outer sleeve

(the objective has its correct brass canister)

Overall, the range of magnification provided ranges from about 75x to a perfectly respectable 150x without the need for oil immersion techniques.

The square brass stage has original brass clips and this system is excellent for retaining slides during inclined viewing. 

Turning to the sub-stage, there’s an Abbe-style condenser lens friction fitted to a brass ring-mount that’s got height adjustment via a helical screw system, which also allows it to swing out as required.  For lighting there is a plano-concave mirror on a brass slider located on the limb tail-piece giving height adjustment and gimbal.  The mirror silvering is tarnished in places, but on testing reflectivity and lighting are perfectly adequate.

This is a great example of classic Parkes compact stand that’s in good original condition with decent optics and it’s essentially very much in collectable condition, displaying well for a compact instrument, with surprising presence when fully extended for use as I hope the listing photos will demonstrate.  Great item for both desk-top use and display!

There is also a period-correct storage case with this example, which is also in good condition for its age with good exterior sheen, carry-handle, internal storage and with key absent, there’s a cupboard latch fitted to keep the door secure.

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

Thanks for looking.