Lot 294
5 INCH REFRACTING BRASS TELESCOPE, SIGNED J.H. DALLMEYER, LONDON
MID-LATE 19TH CENTURY
Fine Furniture and Works of Art
Auction: 2 May 2018 at 11:00 BST
Description
with lens cap, raised on a stained oak tripod, with two boxes containing lenses, connectors and a finderscope marked T. B. WINTER/ 21 GREY ST. NEWCASTLE ON TYNE
Dimensions
Tube 169cm long
Footnote
Provenance:
Purchased from Lord Armstrong, Cragside, Northumberland, December 1983.
Note: This telescope originally belonged to the first Lord Armstrong, who oversaw the building of Cragside, near Rothbury in the late 19th century. Designed by Richard Norman Shaw, Cragside was equipped with hydraulic machines and powered by hydroelectricity, the first in the world to do so and a revelation in its day. Lord Armstrong was a true Victorian polymath, a philanthropist, engineer, and entrepreneur, with a keen interest in astronomy. As a result, Cragside was built with an astronomical dome where this telescope was used.