Scientific Instruments
Items relating to scientific history are a popular collecting area in which number of specialist dealers and auctioneers operate. The field overlaps into sectors such as antique tools, technology, medicine and maritime history.
Objects in this area that regularly appear on the market include microscopes, telescopes, optical devices, globes, sundials and astrolabes as well as dental, drawing and navigational instruments.
Paul Allen’s science and tech lots tell a story of human ingenuity
30 September 2024Memorabilia collected by a founding father of modern computing makes for a remarkable auction
Records tumble at Paul Allen auctions
16 September 2024Christie’s posted a spate of record prices at three New York sales from September 10-12 offering Paul Allen’s extraordinary collection of scientific and technological items.
Auction record for any computer as Paul Allen’s Cray-1 sells at Christie’s
11 September 2024A Cray-1 Supercomputer owned by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen set a new high for any computer sold at auction when it took $810,000 (£618,320) at Christie’s New York.
Eye Eye: Rare c.1750 shagreen 'banjo' spectacle case and glasses surprise at auction
23 July 2024Catalogued simply as 'a cased pair of spectacles, 19th century, the case in shagreen, along with three magnifying glasses', this understated lot estimated at £30-50 fell between a portrait miniature of Napoleon and a set of 1950s headlights.
Doll raises the baa at specialist auction
06 May 2024This rare 1880s Jean Roullet ‘Le Berger Watteau’ shepherdess with lamb automaton starred when the second part of one of the largest doll collections on offer in recent times went under the hammer.
Scientist’s microscopes go under a bidding inspection
29 April 2024A collection of microscopes and other antique scientific instruments from the estate of Ohio scientist John A Davidson Jr (1939-2023) came for sale at Gray’s Auctioneers (20% buyer’s premium) on April 17.
Medieval astrolabe finds its way to a London saleroom
15 April 2024The astrolabe was used for not only telling the time, but mapping one’s location, tracking the stars, and even as an astrological tool for decision-making.
Microscopes under bidder focus in UK and US auctions
15 April 2024This aristocratic survivor from the ‘brass and glass’ era of microscope making, a version of Powell & Lealand’s famous ‘No 1’ compound monocular and binocular microscope, is dated 1898.
Goniometer going, going, gone at £2700
15 April 2024This Victorian lacquered brass device made by Elliot Brothers of London is a reflecting goniometer.
Original phrenology models turn heads at auction
15 April 2024Ceramic phrenology heads have become ubiquitous following numerous reproductions. However, original 19th century models are much harder to come by.
Botanical group features in Battle auction action
15 April 2024Twenty-six lots in the Science, Natural History and Curiosities sale at Burstow & Hewett (20% buyer’s premium) in Battle were previously owned by local botanist and entomologist George West.
Pocket chronometer was Breguet built, Humboldt owned
18 December 2023The combination of a pre-eminent maker and a perfect provenance made a late 18th century pocket chronometer one of the most sought-after pieces at Dr Crott (25% buyer’s premium) in Mannheim on November 18.
From a first batch of barographs
15 July 2023This is one of the very first batch of standard barographs produced by Richard Frères of Paris.
Tempting machine that is full of socks appeal
10 July 2023The Harrison semi-automatic pedestal knitting machine was designed c.1900 for producing rib socks.
Very early TV set that’s a must for connoisseurs
10 July 2023The HMV 900 was one of first television receivers designed by the Marconi-EMI Television Company, the firm that also provided the technology for Britain’s first television service.
Rare Ruhmkorff survivor ready for sale
10 July 2023Induction coils used to produce high-voltage pulses from a low-voltage direct current, are often called Ruhmkorff coils although studied by Michael Faraday in the 1830s
Hello, can I speak to a royal please?
10 July 2023A telephone exchange removed from Buckingham Palace during refurbishment 25 years ago sold in west London for £3000.
Rationality and religion combined
10 July 2023Like many scientists and eminent thinkers of the time, Isaac Newton was also a devout Christian who thought deeply about religious matters, as a manuscript sold at auction in New York reveals.
Take a peek before ‘glass and brass’ microscopes appear
10 July 2023A lucernal microscope is a rare survivor.
It must be one of the Ladds
10 July 2023This lacquered brass and mahogany Hawksbee-type double valve vacuum pump is signed to the recessed silvered plate Ladd, Penton Place, Walworth.
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