Nautical Collectibles Blog

Antique Telescope

  The antique telescope was purchased in large quantities by sailors, the military and astronomers. However due to the fragile glass optics and brass tubes that were easy to dent, not a large amount of these telescopes are to be found today.

  Most often these telescopes were used by mariners and had complicated optics to show the image right side up unlike the scopes used for astronomy which have an inverted image. The hand held telescope, also called a spyglass was focused by moving the tubes back and forth to change the length to get a clear image. A telescope with 3 or 4 sections was much more compact and easy to store , but a little delicate. For durability the mariners chose the 2 section spyglass known as the single draw.

  Brass Telescope

  Most often made from brass with a leather or wood covering the antique telescope can also be found made from silver plate or nickel silver. A solid wood barrel with brass tube would be a rare find and indicates a very early model. Rosewood was a common wood used to decorate the telescope body.

  During the 1800’s makers included their name in a quite elaborate script. This was changed to a simple block print in the 1900’s, just something to look for when searching for an antique telescope. One of the more common names on antique telescopes is Dollond of London, because of the high quality of these telescopes many of them can still be found today. Another well known maker was Bardou, Paris a leading maker of quality scopes. Representing America in the field of fine telescope building was the company of Alvan Clark and Son’s from the 1850’s through the 1920’s.

  The spyglass was often used under severe weather condition and dirty field work, after all it was a tool to be used, but also a delicate instrument and subject to damage. Most common damage would be scratched or broken optics which can not be repaired. Dents and scratches can sometimes be repaired with a little work. Depending on your needs, just how good of shape the telescope needs to be in is up to you. If the item is to be used just as a nautical decoration the condition is not so critical.

The Search for an Antique Telescope

  The search for the antique telescope as with any nautical collectible to is a large portion of the fun in collecting. I can spend hours in a small antique shop and talking to other collectors or browsing the internet museums in my hunt for information on nautical collectibles. In todays world the internet is the greatest way to locate your collectibles and information on collecting. The amount of info and shopping sites is still quite amazing to me as I am somewhat new to the world of computers, but I have found the internet to be a wonderful resource in my endless search for collectibles.