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Microscope Museum Collection of antique microscopes and other
scientific instruments |
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Microscope 239 (unassigned maker; pillar-type linen tester; late 19th
century to the early 20th century)
Microscope 239 is a pillar-type linen tester, or linen prover, and
should be dated from the late 19th century to the early 20th
century. These instruments would be used for counting threads in fabrics (the
number of threads per unit of length provides evidence of a higher quality of
cloth). This is the most basic type of linen tester; the base has a single or
more tiny pillars supporting the optics above (microscope 239 has two tiny
pillars arising from the base). The basic form had a fixed focus, but
focusing models were sold as well. Linen testers have been made and sold by
many companies since at least the early 19th century and were
rarely signed by their makers or retailers (Figure 1). Pillar-type linen
testers were eventually supplanted by the folding versions and other types of
thread counters in the early twentieth century (see microscopes 236 and 237
in this collection for examples of folding-type linen testers).
Figure 1. Pillar-type linen testers engraved in the catalogues
of Palmer from 1840 (A) and Negretti & Zambra from 1859 (B) and from the
1870s (C) References LINEN
TESTERS (OR LINEN PROVERS), AND THREAD-COUNTING MICROSCOPES: 19TH AND 20TH
CENTURY (c. 1840- c. 1950) (https://www.microscope-antiques.com/linen.html), last accessed on 22.01.2022 FOLDING
LINEN PROVER MICROSCOPES: 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY (https://www.microscope-antiques.com/foldingprovers.html), last accessed on 22.01.2022 PILLAR TYPE
LINEN PROVER MICROSCOPE: 19TH CENTURY (https://www.microscope-antiques.com/pillarprovers.html#neill), last accessed on 22.01.2022 LAST
EDITED: 22.01.2022 |
