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kaleidoscope

Object NameKaleidoscope

Maker Maison Oudin A. Charpentier (French, 1857 - about 1870)

Made FromBrass, Gilding, Glass, Steel, Metal, Mirror

Date1865-1870

Place MadeFrance, Paris

TechniqueEngraved, lampworked, assembled

Size(a) Kaleidoscope L: 28.4 cm, Diam: 7.3 cm

Accession Number2025.3.1

Curatorial Area(s)

Modern

Not On View

Physical DescriptionKaleidoscope. (a) A kaleidoscope, with a cylindrical brass main tube with very fine wavy guilloché engraving. The guilloché engraving is accented by engraved bees in flight, plus a capital “N” intertwined with twin mirrored “E” s and an ornate crown ringed with winged eagles and topped with an orb and cross. The designs feature partial gilding. Adjustable bands bear the signatures. The interior is set with two long thin glass mirrors in sheet steel, hinged for polyangular adjustment. There is a blackened metal arc on the “third” side. The angle between mirrors, and thus the number of segments in the image, is set by turning one of the bands. At one end is a plane glass viewing port. The other end has a specimen cell with ground glass window filled with colored cut and flameworked glass, some faceted and some beaded. An internal spring drive rotates the cell uniformly via multi-step gear train with fan governor. The winding shaft is concealed “magically” underneath one of the bands, and the cell rotates continuously if an external button is depressed. (b) Brass winding key. (c) Rectangular wood box with hinged lid and metal clasps (one clasp bears the image of a face set within a sunburst).
Provenance

Former Collection Stereographica Auctions - before 2010

Source Tesseract

Former Collection Emperor Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte III (French, 1808 - 1873)

Former Collection Empress Eugenia María "Eugénie" Countess de Téba and daughter of the Count of Montijo (French, 1826 - 1920)