TheSkySearchers

Was wondering if anyone has seen anything like this before. Things about it make me wonder if it is legit as the wood appears to be of two different types with two different finishes. And the plaque on the tripod appears to use iron nails instead of brass. Purported to have been made by John Browning the instrument maker in London even though it has a Broadhurst-Clarkson plaque on the tripod.

Hello Bill,

this is looking like an equatorial mount (Fraunhofer type) with a mechanical clock drive.
According to the Broadhurst & Clarkson badge and the art of the fonts, I would date it between 1920 and 1930.

Broadhurst & Clarkson used to be well known English manufaturers of the tactical draw tubes telescopes. In my collection, I have one of their draw tubes small spy glass.

Thank you very much for posting this interesting piece of astronomy equipment,
JG

PS: We also have a thread "Vintage Optics Collecting"

Here is also about the history of Broadhurst & Clarkson,

https://www.bcftelescopes.co.uk/about-b ... uller-ltd/

a very nice read, very British,

JG

@WilliamPaolini
Thank you Bill for this post.
@j.gardavsky
Wonderful post JG. I have enjoyed reading all the pages in this link.
Great history.

John Donne wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:20 pm @WilliamPaolini
Thank you Bill for this post.
@j.gardavsky
Wonderful post JG. I have enjoyed reading all the pages in this link.
Great history.

Thank you John!

Here is a Broadhurst Clarkson 3 draws in my collection, as manufactured in the Farringdon Rd,

download/file.php?id=4811&mode=view

download/file.php?id=4812&mode=view

Best,
JG

WilliamPaolini wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:38 am Was wondering if anyone has seen anything like this before. Things about it make me wonder if it is legit as the wood appears to be of two different types with two different finishes. And the plaque on the tripod appears to use iron nails instead of brass. Purported to have been made by John Browning the instrument maker in London even though it has a Broadhurst-Clarkson plaque on the tripod.

This is a wonderful piece Bill. I have been researching this a bit as a spin off from the post by JG.
Does this one have the drive mechanism as JG mentioned?
I enjoy very much the history in the artifact.
Thank you again.

j.gardavsky wrote: ↑Fri Dec 03, 2021 5:49 pm

John Donne wrote: ↑Thu Dec 02, 2021 11:20 pm @WilliamPaolini
Thank you Bill for this post.
@j.gardavsky
Wonderful post JG. I have enjoyed reading all the pages in this link.
Great history.

Thank you John!

Here is a Broadhurst Clarkson 3 draws in my collection, as manufactured in the Farringdon Rd,

download/file.php?id=4811&mode=view

download/file.php?id=4812&mode=view

Best,
JG

Beautiful pieces!
You have caused me to "fall" in covetousness JG.

This mount came to my attention because another wanted my thoughts on it. Not that I am an expert on vintage mounts by any means, so I asked here (and I felt it was not as vintage as the seller thinks 1800's, so JG's estimate on early 1900's was interesting). It is actually up for sale an astronomical price on Facebook Marketplace (seems a little suspicious to me frankly).

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... f8c3ffb461

WilliamPaolini wrote: ↑Sat Dec 04, 2021 3:14 am This mount came to my attention because another wanted my thoughts on it. Not that I am an expert on vintage mounts by any means, so I asked here (and I felt it was not as vintage as the seller thinks 1800's, so JG's estimate on early 1900's was interesting). It is actually up for sale an astronomical price on Facebook Marketplace (seems a little suspicious to me frankly).

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... f8c3ffb461

Thank you Bill for the link, which shows more deatils on the drive transmission.

Now, my feeling is that this has been manufactured a bit later, let's say close to 1930, or even after.

More than 100 years before Broadhurst Clarkson, Joseph von Fraunhofer (1787–1826) has been making clock drives for his EQ mounts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clock_drive

https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1331 ... pe-artwork
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/deu ... pe-neptune

This offer may be of interest for the collectors specialized on the legacy of Broadhurst Carlson, but the price of 50.000 £ is quite a bit high, 5.000 £ would be more realistic, even if I am not a buyer.

Take for a comparison the P. Dörffel's (Berlin) telescope for Albert Einstein,
https://www.lotsearch.net/lot/einstein- ... d-29108388
sold for US$432,500

In my collection, I have P. Dörffel's galilean binos, but they have not been in possession of Albert Einstein,
https://www.cloudynights.com/gallery/im ... in-berlin/

Best,
JG