
Claire Tole-Moir
Head of Department
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£1,500 - £2,200
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Head of Department

Specialist Consultant Collectors, Science & Marine

Senior Specialist
Although not signed, this instrument is attributed to the maker Thomas Morton. See a similar signed example in the collection of the Royal Scottish Museum http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-100-102-725-C
This telescope was made by the scientific instrument and carpet machinery maker, Thomas Morton, based in Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The curved rack governing the angle of the telescope is a striking feature of Morton's telescope design.
Thomas Morton's interest in telescope construction led him to study astronomy. In 1818, he built an astronomical observatory in Kilmarnock which was open to the public and furnished with instruments which he had constructed.