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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope
170 (Nachet;
Petit modèle; c. 1850)
Camille
Sébastien Nachet (1799 – 1881) started by working with Charles Chevalier and
set up his own business in 1839. At that time, Chevalier, Oberhauser and
Nachet were the main producers of microscopes in Paris. In the late 1850s,
Nachet was joined by his son, Jean Alfred Nachet (1831-1908), who went by the
name of Alfred. The firm was renamed Nachet et Fils around 1862, when Alfred
was made a partner. Nachet was succeeded by his son, who named the firm ‘A
Nachet’ from about 1880 to about 1890, when it became ‘Nachet et Fils’ once more
when Alfred's son joined the partnership. By 1898 Nachet had taken over
Hartnack and Prazmowski and also ‘Bezu, Hausser et cie’. The firm traded from
Rue Serpente, Paris (1839 – 1862), Rue Séverin, Paris (1862 until after WW2),
and Rue Chaptal 106, Levallois-Perret (1970s). Microscope 170 is engraved
with ‘Nachet Opticien, Rue Serpente 16, Paris’ and should be dated to
c. 1850. The microscope was known as Nachet’s petit model. The instrument
needs to be restored and some components such as the mirror are missing. The
microscope sits on a uniquely shaped solid foot that arises on a short pillar
to a solid inclination joint. The original substage mirror was gimballed to
the end of a tube which slides inside the fixed tailpiece. The substage
features a slide for carrying two different apertures (that are also absent
in this instrument). The stage provides a sliding support for the specimen
slide (also absent) and rides on rails which ride in slots in the stage.
Coarse focus is by push-pull, fine focus by continental screw. A bullseye
condenser would attach to the optical tube via a dovetail fitting. The petit
modèle was pictured in many of the Nachet catalogues over the years, and its
design changed slightly (Figure 1). Over the years, as a trend, the sliding
pair of substage apertures was replaced with a wheel of apertures and the
substage mirror became articulated. The length of the bullseye articulating
arm was also shortened and the stage changed to simple stage clips. The foot
also changed the shape for a more usual horseshoe.
Figure 1. Nachet’s petit modèle microscope as
pictured in the firm’s catalogues over the years. References 'PETIT MODÈLE': c. 1860 'NACHET ET
FILS, A PARIS’ (https://www.microscope-antiques.com/nachet.html), last accessed on 03.02.2021 Nachet Opticien, rue Serpente 16,
Paris, Small model microscope, c.1853 (http://www.antique-microscopes.com/photos/nachet_petit.htm), last accessed on 03.02.2021 Microscope Nachet "petit modèle
inclinable" (Paris, 1863-1872) (http://www.igm.cnr.it/pagine-personali/maga/maga-microscopes/nachet/), last accessed on 03.02.2021 Microscope Nachet et Fils "petit
modèle droit" (http://www.lecompendium.com/dossier_optique_207_microscope_nachet_petit_modele/microscope_nachet_petit_modele.htm), last accessed on 03.02.2021 LAST
EDITED: 05.05.2021 |
