French Early Victorian Brass Lacquered Telescope on Walnut Stand with Case "Cauchoix Quai Voltaire a Paris"

For sale, a large French early Victorian lacquered brass telescope on walnut tripod stand and pine case.

The telescope has an integral focusing mechanism and includes a lens with engraved makers mark stating “Cauchoix, Quai Voltaire a Paris”.

Robert Aglae Cauchoix (1776 – 1845) was a French optician of some merit and produced a number of inventions regarding telescope stands and was the first to use quartz glass in lenses. Cauchoix also produced a famed lens for the Greenwich Observatory.

It is unlikely that the entire telescope is of Cauchoix’s hand as it would likely have had his trade markings to the base of the scope but it is of French manufacture.

The telescope's lenses have been refurbished to include an erector lens, therefore making it appropriate to both terrestrial and astronomical use.