Antique telescopes

Antique telescopes are optical instruments developed from the 17th century onwards for viewing distant objects. Used in astronomy, navigation and scientific observation, they range from early handheld designs to more advanced mounted examples. Often crafted in brass, wood and glass, their refined construction reflects both their practical purpose and the evolving understanding of optics during the scientific revolution. Over time, many telescopes acquired a sculptural quality, valued as much for their form and craftsmanship as for their original function.

At Christie's, antique telescopes are collected at the intersection of science, history and design. Whether associated with maritime exploration or early astronomical study, they offer a tangible link to a period of discovery, where advances in instrumentation transformed the way the world — and the wider universe — was observed.

Caspar David Friedrich (Greifswald 1774-1840 Dresden)

White chalk cliffs on the island of Möen, with a seated man looking at the sea with a telescope

Robert Muller (1773-c. 1800)

Portrait of General George Washington (1732-1799) at the Battle of Trenton, full-length, in military uniform with a blue coat with a yellow waistcoat and breeches, a pair of seals hanging from his waist, his telescope in his right hand, his left hand holding his right glove and hat, resting on his sword, an aide beside holding his white charger by the reins, the battle ensuing beyond, after Col. John Trumbull (1756-1843)

A fine and rare English 11/16-inch astronomical telescope

UNSIGNED, LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY, THE TELESCOPE ASSOCIATED

An extremely fine late 18th Century gilt brass and enamel 1 1/2-inch three-draw refracting telescope, engraved "J.J. Cambacérès à Napoléon. Mai 10, 1800"

UNSIGNED, POSSIBLY GENEVA, ENGRAVED ON THE LARGEST DRAW-TUBE "J.J. CAMBACÉRÈS À NAPOLÉON MAI 10, 1800"

A FINE PAIR OF LOUIS PHILIPPE ORMOLU-MOUNTED BIRCHWOOD MARQUETRY CARD TABLES, each with a rectangular hinged folding top centred by a marquetry-inlaid panel depicting a scene from Aesop's Fable, The Stork and the Fox , one showing the bird and fox by a fountain, the other with the fox drinking from a bowl whilst the stork stands at his side, each within landscape views, signed H. Ahrens and dated 1858 , within a crossbanded and ivory-inlaid border with acanthus scrolls and husk pendants with ribbon-tied berried laurel below and flanked by a ribbon-tied foliate pendant to each side, within a cross-banded and foliate-scrolled border, the playing surface with a burgundy velvet-lined interior, outlined with a variety of woods and shaped spandrels, the panelled frieze with telescopic action inlaid with ribbon-tied foliage within a green stained sycamore border within an ormolu frame work and within two additional sections (used to extend the side panels when being used for cards), each corner with a pair of scrolled acanthus volute brackets above square tapering legs, each with four raised shaped tapering panels inlaid with bell flowers with beaded roundels to the top and acanthus rosettes to the middle, on square tapering blocked feet with beaded border, with a well for the two additional frieze sections, one with a paper label printed H. N. P. Paris within a square border and 4 in ink, and with a cut-out inscription from the Pierpoint Morgan sale and inscribed in ink Pierpoint Morgan Collection Christie's March 29th 1944 Catal. No. 384 , mid-19th Century 38¼in. (87cm.) wide; 29¾in. (75.5cm.) high; 17½in. (44.5cm.) deep (2)

A SILVER-GILT TELESCOPE

DOLLOND, CIRCA 1860

Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922)

A late 19th-century English vernier sextant, the brass lattice frame signed on the arc Dollond London , the inset silver scale graduated 150°-0°-5°, the index arm with tangent screw, clamp adjustment, inset silver vernier scale graduated 15°-0°, and swivel-arm magnifier, 2 ( ?of 3 ) shades, 2 mirror-mounts, and one telescope ( ?of 2 ) with screw-on shade eyepiece, mahogany handle ( lacking mirrors and a few screws, handle chipped ), mahogany case with printed trade label of W M. WE[?]TCHERT, CARDIFF ( label torn, case defective ) -- sextant 23.5cm. high

Circle of Pierre-François-Hugues, baron d'Hancarville (Nancy 1719-1805 Padua)

A set of allegorical painted panels in the style of classical red figure vase painting, depicting The Farnese Hercules , Inspiration: Bellorophon and Pegasus before Athena, Apollo and Hermes , Geography: Ancient geographers with a globe and a map , Astronomy: Ancient astronomers with a telescope and an armillary sphere , The Visual Arts: Artists drawing after statues of The Three Graces and Antinoüs , Music: A shepherd piping , and other scenes

A SWISS ENAMELLED GOLD AND GILT-METAL TELESCOPE

GENEVA, CIRCA 1830/1840, THE FIRST DRAW SIGNED 'LEREBOURS OPT. . N DE L'OBS. . . . ET DU B. . . DES LONGITUDES PLACE DU PONT NEUF A PARIS'

BARRY FLANAGAN (B. 1941)

Hare with Telescope

TIFFANY STUDIOS

TELESCOPIC TABLE LAMP, CIRCA 1910

A Rare and Unusual Glass Telescope and Lacquered Leather Case

EDO PERIOD (LATE 18TH - EARLY 19TH CENTURY)

A GEORGE III SEVEN DRAW GILT-BRASS AND IVORY POCKET FIELD GLASS TELESCOPE

BY BERGE, LONDON, LATE RAMSDEN, CIRCA 1802-1810

HOOKE, Robert (1635-1702). An Attempt to prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations . London: T.R. for John Martyn, 1674. Engraved folding plate. Keynes Hooke 16; Wing H-2613; Wellcome III, p. 296; Norman 1093. -- A Description of Helioscopes, and some other Instruments . London: T.R. for John Martyn, 1676. 3 engravings on 2 folding plates. Keynes 19; Wing H-2614; Norman 1095. -- Lampas: or, Descriptions of some Mechanical Improvements of Lamps & Waterpoises . London: for John Martyn, 1677. 3 folding engraved plates (one a double-plate numbered tab. I & tab. II). Keynes Hooke 20; Wellcome III, P. 296; Wing H-2616; Norman 1096. -- Lectures and Collections ... cometa ... microscopium . London: for J. Martyn, 1678. 5 folding engraved plates. Keynes Hooke 22; NLM/Krivatsy 5957; Wing H-2618; Norman 1098. -- Lectures de potentia restitutiva, or of Spring, explaining the Power of Springing Bodies . London: for John Martyn, 1678. 3 engraved plates (2 folding). Keynes 21; Wing H-2619; Norman 1097. -- Animadversions on the first part of the machina coelestis of ... Johannes Hevelius . London: T.R. for John Martyn, 1674. 3 folding engraved plates. Keynes Hooke 18; Wellcome III, p. 296; Wing H-2611; Norman 1094. Together 6 works bound in one volume, all 4 o (each approximately 210 x 155). Engraved plates. (Some minor browning and spotting, occasional soiling.) Contemporary diced russia, covers with gilt borders, spine richly gilt (rebacked preserving original spine, corners worn). Provenance : occasional marginalia in an early hand. COMPLETE SET OF FIRST EDITIONS OF HOOKE'S SIX CULTERIAN LECTURES. In his preface to the first lecture, Hooke explained that the remaining lectures would be published in the same format so that they could be bound together (as here). The lectures were named in honor of Sir James Cutler, who founded a lectureship in mechanics for Hooke in 1664. The first lecture contains Hooke's reformulation of the approach to orbital dynamics. He recognized here for the first time that orbital motion did not depend on centrifugal force, but rather on the principle of rectilinear inertia. This discovery set Newton on the correct path to understanding orbital dynamics. The second Cutleriean lecture (bound here slightly out of order), Animadversions on the first part of the machina coelestis , contains the first descriptions of Hooke's clock-driven telescope and the first form of a universal joint. The Lectures de potentia restitutiva , the fifth published Cutlerian lecture, contains Hooke's law of elasticity--that stress is proportional to strain. The sixth and final published lecture, Lectures and collections , includes an account of the comet witnessed in April 1677. It also prints two letters from Leeuwenhoek concerning his miscroscopical examinations, and gives Hooke's own account of his improved microscopical methods. A RARE COMPLETE SET OF THESE IMPORTANT LECTURES. [ Bound with :] HOOKE, Robert, editor (1635-1702). Philosophical Collections . Numbers 1-7 [all published]. London: for John Martin [no. 1], Moses Pitt [no. 2], Richard Chiswell [nos. 3-7], 1679-1682. 4 o. 7 engraved plates (5 folding), one full-page engraving on Z2r (part 5). (Some minor browning and spotting, occasional soiling.) RARE COMPLETE SET OF ISSUES. Following the death of Henry Oldenburg in 1677, regular publication of the Philosophical Transactions was interrupted. Hooke was authorized by the Council of the Royal Society to publish the Philosophical Collections during this period prior to its resumption in January 1682/3. " Philosophical collections must have circulated in much smaller numbers [than the Phil. trans .], complete sets of the seven numbers being now very uncommon, and it is probable that Hooke received little return for his trouble" (Keynes, p. 48). The third number contains two papers by Hooke, one an optical discourse for the short-sighted, and the other a mechanical discourse in which he describes the "best form of Horizontal Sayls for a Mill." The sixth number contains William Briggs' "Nova visionis theoria," a treatise on the physiology of vision which prompted Newton to reprint it with his own introduction in 1685. Garrison-Morton 1481.3 (Briggs); Keynes Hooke 24; Norman 1100.

Attributed to Jan Wyck (c.1640-1700)

Equestrian portrait of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), small full-length, in armour, holding a telescope in his right hand, a servant holding his helmet to his right, in a rocky landscape

A Rare Small Glass Telescope and Lacquer Stand

EDO PERIOD (LATE 18TH - EARLY 19TH CENTURY)