Microscope
date: label: date made
content: ca 1860-1870
name: label: maker
content: Chevalier
notes: label: Description
content: Charles Chevalier (1804-1859) was a French optician who, while working for his father, made achromatic objectives for microscopes. He also made horizontal microscopes similar to one that Giovanni Amici had recently brought to Paris. After going into business on his own, Chevalier altered the Amici design so that it could be used in a horizontal or vertical position, showed an example of his new “universal” instrument at the Paris exhibition of 1834, and took home a gold medal. Charles Chevalier’s son Arthur continued the business into the 1870s.
label: Description
content: This example, found in a Smithsonian laboratory, has a rack-and-pinion focus, mechanical stage, and sub-stage mirror mount (the mirror is missing). It fits into, and stands atop, a rectangular mahogany case. The inscription on the tube reads: “Microscope Achromatique Universel / Charles Chevalier / Ingénieur Opticien / Palais Royal / Paris.”
label: Description
content: Ref: Charles Chevalier, <i>Des Microscopes et de leurs Usage</i> (Paris, 1839), pp. 89-97, and plate 4.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: France: Île-de-France, Paris
topic: label: Subject
content: Science & Scientific Instruments
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Biological Sciences
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content: Microscopes
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content: Science & Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Department of Entomology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0203.04
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0203.04
label: accession number
content: 1991.0203
objectType: label: Object Name
content: microscope
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 10.2 cm x 32.7 cm x 23.5 cm; 4 in x 12 7/8 in x 9 1/4 in