Lot 289
4-INCH REFRACTING BRASS TELESCOPE, BY GRUBB, DUBLIN
CIRCA 1860
Auction: 5 September 2018 at 11:00 BST
Description
with altazimuth mount and finder telescope, marked on draw tube GRUBB/ DUBLIN, mounted on a cast iron three-part cylindrical tapered pier, with brass trunions
Dimensions
136cm long approx.
Footnote
The Collection of the Late Allan Murray.
Provenance: Vernonscope & Co., New York, 8 January 2000
Note: This 4-inch refracting brass telescope was produced by one of the United Kingdom's leading scientific instrument manufacturers. Founded in 1833, Dublin, by Thomas Grubb, the company gained significant reputation in the 1860s under the direction of Grubb's son, Howard. After a successful commission to produce the 48-inch refractor for the Melbourne Observatory in 1869, widely considered a masterpiece in scientific instrument making, the firm went on to assist in the construction of telescopes for India, Vienna, South Africa, Greenwich and Dublin. A common feature of Grubb telescopes is the unusually short focal length in relation to the aperture, which is understood to have improved the optical quality of their instruments. Following the company's success, Howard Grubb was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1887, and in 1912 was the third recipient of Royal Society of Dublin's Boyle Medal.