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Lot Essay
Sir David Brewster (1781-1868) was one of the most important scientists of the nineteenth century notably in the field of optics. As Alison Morrison-Low describes it is impossible to determine whether he 'redisocvered' or 'invented' the kaleidoscope during his investigations into the polarisation of light, but in 1817 Brewster patented the device (British patent no. 4136 of 1817).
The kaleidoscope was an immediate sensation with an estimated 200,000 being sold in London and Paris within the first three months. Most of these were poorly made copies and Brewster failed to control their manufacture or benefit financially from their production.
Brewster licensed a small number of scientific and optical instrument makers to make his telescopic kaleidoscope including Dollond, Bancks, W. & S. Jones, Watkins and Hill, and Carpenter. Robert B.Bate of Poultry, London, was the only maker of the Polyangular kaleidoscope. Brewster rated Bate very highly stating: '[Bate is] one of the ablest and certainly one of the best men'. Manufacture by Bate had probably ceased by the 1820s when work making standard measures for the Board of Trade took precedence. Despite the copies Brewster enjoyed a considerable income from the manufacture of the legitimately made kaleidoscopes.
Morrison-Low suggests that fewer than sixty of the Polyangular kaleidoscope were made with the following examples in public collections: the Science Museum, London, no. unknown and no. 45; National Museums of Scotland, no. 37; Whipple Museum, Cambridge, nos. 30 and 40. Number 75, belonging to James Watt, was sold in 2003.
The kaleidoscope was an immediate sensation with an estimated 200,000 being sold in London and Paris within the first three months. Most of these were poorly made copies and Brewster failed to control their manufacture or benefit financially from their production.
Brewster licensed a small number of scientific and optical instrument makers to make his telescopic kaleidoscope including Dollond, Bancks, W. & S. Jones, Watkins and Hill, and Carpenter. Robert B.Bate of Poultry, London, was the only maker of the Polyangular kaleidoscope. Brewster rated Bate very highly stating: '[Bate is] one of the ablest and certainly one of the best men'. Manufacture by Bate had probably ceased by the 1820s when work making standard measures for the Board of Trade took precedence. Despite the copies Brewster enjoyed a considerable income from the manufacture of the legitimately made kaleidoscopes.
Morrison-Low suggests that fewer than sixty of the Polyangular kaleidoscope were made with the following examples in public collections: the Science Museum, London, no. unknown and no. 45; National Museums of Scotland, no. 37; Whipple Museum, Cambridge, nos. 30 and 40. Number 75, belonging to James Watt, was sold in 2003.