Description

Standing 17 inches (20 inches fully racked up and 22 inches with 10X top hat eyepiece/21 inches with the 5X eyepiece), this impressive and large example retains about 95% of it’s original golden lacquer with many surfaces exhibiting Guilloche rose engine turning (stage, frog plate, etc.).

Definitely made by Baker, as his shop was the only one of the era to use a fine focus knurled knob on the bar to control the nosepiece depth. Rarely used as all of the controls of coarse/fine and square mechanical stage adjustment are nice and tight with no wear issues. The rack and pinion/ worm and screw are flawless and operate by large knurled knobs. Great optics.

Signed on the claw foot Y base (on plinth), Millikin and Lawley, 161 Strand (1845-71), the Firm even went so far as to engrave the two objective canisters with focal length and full address in London.

A special order piece, highly decorative and fully functional with aforementioned optics (including a rare triple stacking objective-1/4, 1/2, 3/4 inch), polarisers for both the nose and substage (on exclusive Baker bevelled inserts) along with a frog/fish plate, stage forceps, 1 inch objective in signed canister, live box, wheel of stops with knurled rotation pin and a 14 inch tall bench condenser with 2 inch dia. bullseye on round base. The double sided 2 inch mirror shows minor silvering loss on the concave side-plano is perfect). The 18 x 9 x 7 dovetailed and glass fronted mahogany case with lock and key and brass knob attests to the importance of this microscope at one time. The case has a narrow shrinkage crack to the rear panel and a drop down brass carrying handle. There is also a slide drawer at top left.

Milliken and Lawley were NOT microscope makers (specialised in surgical instruments and had a pawn shop on the side) as noted by their absence in Clifton’s text however they did market other makers wares as their own by engraving instruments.

As noted in the photos, this bar limb monocular was a specialised item for a Victorian microscope with accessories seldomly seen in combination and complexity. The microscope shows well, in and out of the case. The only caveat would be the shipping. Due to the glass front (non-insureable), it would have to be double packed with the microscope partially disassembled for secure delivery (at cost).  If you would like an unusual example of a fine brass microscope and case, made by a top maker of the era, this is the one to own. See last photo of an identical No. 1 from the Charles Baker catalogue.