
Jon Baddeley
Specialist Consultant Collectors, Science & Marine
This auction has ended. View lot details
Sold for £19,000 inc. premium
Our Scientific Instruments specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialist
Specialist Consultant Collectors, Science & Marine

Head of Department
Provenance:
Ex-Lot 84, Bonhams, Knightsbridge, 19 March 2008.
John Cuff (1708-1772) was a specialist instrument maker whose output focused primarily on microscopes. Cuff is known for producing new microscope types beyond the well established examples (the Culpeper-type and the pocket type), in particular the solar microscope and 'Mr. Cuff's new-constructed double microscope'. Despite his expertise and popular innovations, Cuff went bankrupt by 1750 and sold the entirety of his stock. One possible cause of this misfortune was a fierce competitor, Benjamin Martin (1704-1782), moving his workshop next door to Cuff's on Fleet Street.