Oberhaeuser Drum Microscope

Item

Title

Oberhaeuser Drum Microscope

Description

The drum-style compound microscope is crafted from brass and stands on a lead-weighted circular base. The designer of the instrument, Georg Johann Oberhaeuser (1798-1868) established a microscope-making business in Paris in the 1830s. The instrument is signed "G. Oberhaeuser, Place Dauphine, Paris" on the body tube. Due to the drum-style design, the substage mirror sits in a cylinder compartment with a square cut-out, by which the light can reach the mirror. On either side of the compartment are small thumbscrews that allow the position of the mirror to be adjusted. Above the mirror is a wheel of apertures mounted to the stage that can be rotated to control the amount of light that reaches the specimen. The square stage has two stage clips to hold slides in place. The column pillar connects the stage to the body tube. Another aspect of this design is that the microscope cannot be angled and so must stand completely straight when being used. Coarse focusing is, unusually, by a rack and pinion mechanism. The style usually included a sliding mechanism for focusing, and so this instrument may have been a custom order. The two threaded holes in the base suggest that the microscope was mounted to a desk for industrial or scientific use.
Condition:

Cosmetically: The brass has clear tarnish from age and use. The substage mirror is in good condition.
Optically: The lenses are clear and functional.
Mechanically: The microscope is functional.

Subject

Microscopes

Creator

G. Obserhaeuser

Publisher

UNC Charlotte

Date

c. 1830-1854

Contributor

Laura Burgess

Rights

Texts and images from this collection may not be used for any commercial purpose without prior permission from the Graduate Office, UNC Charlotte

Relation

N/A

Format

Microscope: 10" closed, 11 1/4" extended

Language

English

Type

Three-dimensional object

Identifier

180930

Coverage

Place Dauphine, Paris, France

Item sets

Microscopes

Tags

Microscope
Compound
Monocular
Drum
Brass
glass
French
German
19th century