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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
90 (assigned
to Carpenter & Westley; Cary/Gould type microscope; early 19th
century)
Philip Carpenter (1776 –
1833) was a maker of scientific instruments starting in 1808. The original
location of the shop was in Birmingham but in 1926 the business moved to 24
Regent Street, London. Carpenter worked at this location until his death in
1833. After Philip's death his sister Mary took over the firm along with her
husband William Westley. Soon thereafter (1835) the firm changed its name to
"Carpenter & Westley". The Birmingham wing of the business was
sold to in 1837 to an earlier foreman, Robert Field. The manufacture of
scientific instruments gradually decreased into the1850s until finally the
firm evolved entirely into sales. At that time the manufacture of instruments
was done by the firm of Negretti and Zambra until Carpenter & Westley
closed the shop permanently in 1914. Microscope 90 is known as a Cary/Gould
type microscope and can be dated to the first half of the 19th century. This
instrument is not signed and incomplete but the brass items present, and the
interior design of the wooden box match perfectly other similar instruments
sold by the firm Carpenter & Westley during that period. Both the stage
and mirror are missing from this instrument. There are four lenses, but these
don’t fit the compound tube and shouldn’t be original. The design of these
types of microscopes, which were common during the first half of the 19th
Century, is attributed to Charles Gould, a workman who was employed by the
Cary company. Cary/Gould type microscopes were first developed in the 1820's.
As time passed, different versions of the Cary/Gould microscope were produced
and/or retailed by different companies (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Cary/Gould type microscopes as engraved in
the catalogues of different makers or retailers: (A, B, C) Buron (1844); (D) Negretti
and Zambra (1859); (E, F, G) Palmer (1840); (H, I) B. Pike (1848, 1856) References Gould-Style box
microscope by Carpenter & Westley, No. 170 (http://golubcollection.berkeley.edu/19th/170.html), last accessed on 14.08.2020 An 1830s Cary-Gould
style microscope by Carpenter and Westley (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjan15/dw-CaryGould.html), last accessed on 14.08.2020 CARY-GOULD MICROSCOPE (https://www.microscope-antiques.com/carysmall.html), last accessed on 14.08.2020 BOX-MOUNTED MEDIUM SIZED
CARY-GOULD MICROSCOPE (http://www.microscope-antiques.com/carymedium.html), last accessed on 14.08.2020 The Cary-Gould-Porter
optical businesses (http://microscopist.net/GouldC.html), last accessed on 14.08.2020 New Improved Pocket
Compound Microscope, c. 1830 (http://www.antique-microscopes.com/photos/improved_pocket_microscope.htm), last accessed on 14.08.2020 Gould-type microscope by
Carpenter, c. 1840 (https://www.bononiaemicroscope.com/en/the-microscopes/england/43-carpenter-gould-type-microscope.html),
last accessed on 02.01.2021 LAST EDITED: 15.08.2020 |
