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Scientific Instruments For Sale
Period: 21st Century and Contemporary
Period: 19th Century
19th Century Pocket Telescope Gilt Brass And Faux Tortoiseshell Spyglass
Located in Norwich, GB
19th Century pocket telescope gilt brass and faux tortoiseshell spyglass, each friction fitting is tapering and collapsible with millegrain edges.
In good condition, showing some li...
Category
Mid-19th Century Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
Antique Root Bowl, Wabi Sabi Style, Scandinavia 1800s
Located in Hønefoss, 30
Wooden Wabi Sabi Root bowl from Scandinavia, circa 1800s. In good vintage condition showing beautiful patina from age and use.
Category
19th Century Norwegian Romantic Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood
Edmé Beauchêne disarticulated human skull with museum provenance, France
Located in Leuven , BE
Edmé François Chauvot de Beauchêne (1780, Île-de-France – 1830, Paris), was a French physician, surgeon and anatomist. He was Chief of l'hopital Saint-Antoine Paris, the Deputy Chief...
Category
19th Century French Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
American Victorian Brass Scale
Located in New York, NY
American Victorian green painted iron and brass scale with 2 brass trays.
Category
19th Century American Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Iron
19th Century German Miniature Pocket Terrestrial Globe
Located in Essex, MA
A miniature 19th century 3.5 inch diameter pocket terrestrial globe by C. Abel-Klinger, Nuremberg, Germany, in English for the English speaking markets. Signed with cartouche reading...
Category
1880s German Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
19th C Pair of Large Optical Experimental Scientific Mirrors Concave & Convex
Located in Lowestoft, GB
A large pair of scientific optical mirrors, one concave the other convex.
These where used in studies of optical sciences and in particular the study of the properties of light r...
Category
Late 19th Century English Late Victorian Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
Ptolemaic Armillary Sphere Charles-François Delamarche Paris, 1805-1810 Circa
Located in Milano, IT
Charles-François Delamarche
Ptolemaic armillary sphere
Paris, circa 1805-1810
Wood and papier-mâché
covered with printed and partly hand-coloured paper
It measures 15.74” in height, ...
Category
Early 1800s French Empire Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Paper, Wood
1890s Hand Painted Life Size Anatomical of Head
Located in Peekskill, NY
This is an early and high quality hand-painted plaster antique anatomical model of an adult human head. I would date this to 1900. The details are well-done and the brain is removabl...
Category
Late 19th Century German Industrial Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Plaster
Pocket Watch In 18 Carat Gold, Dating From Around 1900 with calendar
Located in Madrid, ES
Discover a piece of timeless elegance with our exquisite 18K gold pocket watch from circa 1900! ⌚️
Crafted with meticulous attention to detail, this elegant timepiece boasts a class...
Category
1890s Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Gold
Oak Cased Stick Barometer and Thermometer
Located in Cheshire, GB
Late 19th century oak cased stick barometer and thermometer by J Hicks of London with engraved scales contained in oak case having shaped and moulded p...
Category
Late 19th Century British Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Oak
Antique French "Iris Paris" Mother-of-Pearl Opera Glasses, Circa 1890.
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique French "Iris Paris" Mother-of-Pearl Opera Glasses, Circa 1890.
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Mother-of-Pearl
Antique French Mother-of-Pearl Opera Glasses, Circa 1880.
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique French Mother-of-Pearl Opera Glasses, Circa 1880.
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Mother-of-Pearl
Antique French Parisian Mother-of-Pearl & Abalone Opera Glasses, Circa 1890.
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique French Parisian Mother-of-Pearl & Abalone Opera Glasses with Original Case, Circa 1890.
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Abalone, Mother-of-Pearl
Two Large Wood Sterling Handled Magnifiers
Located in San Francisco, CA
Two Large Wood Sterling Handled Magnifiers
One is marked Hull
4.25" x 1" x 17.5
4" x 1" x 17
Category
19th Century Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood
1860s Torricellian Barometer Oak Wood Negretti & Zambra Old Weather Instrument
Located in Milan, IT
Torricellian barometer of oak wood, signed Negretti & Zambra London from the second half of the 19th century, complete with reading vernier for checking the pressure variation and thermometer.
Height 98 cm - 10.6 inches, width 27 cm - 38.5 inches, depth/thickness 5 cm - 1.96 inches.
Very good condition, fully functional.
For safety during transport the barometer will be shipped emptied of mercury. The mercury will be placed in a sealed container in the package together with the barometer.
When it was discovered, that changes of atmospheric pressure are connected to changes of weather, barometers became very popular.
Evangelista Torricelli...
Category
1860s British Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Oak
A Porter's Direction Sundial Germany Early 19th Century
Located in Firenze, IT
The printed and pivoted compass card and chapter ring centred by brass gnomon, in turned rosewood case with domed lid, (glass cover), 5cm (2in) diam.
Category
Early 19th Century German Neoclassical Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood
Two Large Magnifiers With 19th Century Gilded and Mother-of-Pearl Handles
Located in San Francisco, CA
Two Large Magnifiers With 19th Century Gilded and Mother of Pearl Handles
Largest: 4"w x 2"d. x 12.75"h
smallest: 3.5" x 1.25"d x 10.25"h
Category
19th Century Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Mother-of-Pearl, Glass
19th Century Andrew J. Lloyd Boston Brass Telescope on Wooden Tripod with Case
Located in Milford, NH
A fine antique brass telescope, stamped Andrew J. Lloyd Company, a Boston, MA retailer active 1850-1875. Brass tubes and fittings, includes the original collapsible wooden tripod sta...
Category
Mid-19th Century American Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
18th Century Louis XVI Giltwood Wall Barometer
Located in Vancouver, British Columbia
A beautifully carved and giltwood 18th century Louis XVI wall barometer having its original mercury tube and mechanism but presently with the mercury missing.
Category
Late 19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Giltwood
Antique Victorian Quality Rosewood Inlaid Banjo Barometer
Located in Suffolk, GB
Antique Victorian quality rosewood inlaid banjo barometer having a quality attractive banjo shaped rosewood case with superb satinwood marquetry inlay and a carved top, porcelain the...
Category
1880s English Victorian Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Rosewood
A scale weighs travel letters, France 1880.
Located in Milan, IT
A scale weighs travel letters of gilt brass, S-shaped round plate of gilt brass. Ring to hold it between the fingers of one hand and pliers to insert the travel letters to be weighed...
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
A Wooden Diptical Sundial Germany 1810's
Located in Firenze, IT
SHIPPING POLICY:
No additional costs will be added to this order.
Shipping costs will be totally covered by the seller (customs duties included).
Pocket sundial, made out of wood, ...
Category
1810s German Neoclassical Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Paper
Antique 19th Century French Gilt Barometer.
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique 19th Century French Gilt Barometer.
Category
19th Century French Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass, Wood
Antique Victorian Brass & Scottish Agate Postal Scale & Weights, Circa 1865-1870
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique Victorian Brass and Scottish Agate Postal scale with Weights, Circa 1865-1870.
Category
Late 19th Century English Victorian Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Agate, Brass
Cut Tobacco Enterprise MFC Co. Philadelphia, USA
Located in Roma, IT
Size Tobacco Enterprise MFC Co. Philadelphia, USA in good condition mounted on a solid chestnut wood board
Category
1880s American Industrial Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Iron
Antique 19th C. W & A K Johnston 18" Celestial Library Floor Globe Stand 1879
Located in Portland, OR
A very fine antique Celestial floor globe on stand by W. & A.K. Johnston, 1879.
Representation of stars and constellations as they would appear on a sphere (Celestial sphere) of inf...
Category
1870s Victorian Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
French 19th Century Freestanding Brass Tea Scale Mounted on Wooden Base
Located in Atlanta, GA
A French brass freestanding tea scale from the 19th century mounted on a wooden base. Born in France during the politically dynamic 19th century, this tea scale features a central sh...
Category
19th Century French Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
Spectacular Memento Mori Vanitas from the 19th Century - Italy
Located in Madrid, ES
This striking Memento Mori Vanitas serves as a captivating reflection piece from the 19th century Italy, presenting a profound contemplation on the fleeting nature of life and the fu...
Category
1880s Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Plaster
Early 19th Century Medical Science Surgical Specimen
Located in London, GB
Early 19th Century Medical Science Surgical Human Skull Specimen
An example of a 19th Century medical science surgical human skull specimen. This specimen is of the top section onl...
Category
1850s Unknown Edwardian Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Natural Fiber
Rare 1800s Andrews’ Lunar Tellurian
Located in Peekskill, NY
This is a rare Weber Costello Scientific Globe Tellurian that dates to around 1880. This is a handsome globe made by, "Weber Costello Co. Chicago Heights, Illinois." The globe sits o...
Category
Late 19th Century Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Iron
Antique 19th Century Scottish Mahogany with Satinwood Inlay Barometer.
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique 19th Century Scottish Mahogany with Satinwood Inlay Barometer.
Category
19th Century Scottish Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Mahogany, Satinwood
Monumental Gilded Iron and Brass Italian Apothecary Scale on Marble Base
Located in New York, NY
This magnificent 19th-century Italian apothecary scale, with dimensions of 27" x 43" x 44", is a testament to the era's exceptional craftsmanship and aesthetic sensibilities. Crafted...
Category
19th Century Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Marble, Bronze, Iron
19th Century French Iron Balance - Antique Brass Scale
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
An antique French intricate brass balance with different weights in solid brass, in good condition. The iron scale is topped with the original polished brass plates. The scale reads ...
Category
19th Century French Mid-Century Modern Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Metal, Brass, Iron
Terrestrial globe published by Ernst Schotte & co, Germany 1890.
Located in Milan, IT
Terrestrial globe in watercolored paper, fixed with an inclined axis through a small brass arm, mounted on a black turned fruit wood base. Published by Ernst Schotte & Co. Berlin, Ge...
Category
Late 19th Century German Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
French Restauration Period Cast Brass Double Scale & Weights, ca. 1825
Located in Atlanta, GA
In complete and original condition and retaining bright patina this set of scales has a main scale and a smaller upper scale, both supported by dolphin forms hanging on a reeded stan...
Category
1820s French Restauration Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
English Pathologist Box Made of Mahogany with Brass, Including Instruments
Located in Dusseldorf, DE
Curious antique English box made of mahogany with brass details, inside which are the working instruments of a pathologist. The division of the interior of the box is covered in red ...
Category
19th Century British Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Metal, Brass
Sailing ship's pulley fiddle block
Located in London, GB
An early 19th century Naval oak fiddle pulley block, with two wood sheaves.
Marked with Roman Numerals: XXVIIII
In sailing, a block is a single or multiple pulley. One or a number ...
Category
Early 19th Century English Industrial Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Oak
Anatomical Model an External and Inner Ear, France 1890
Located in Milan, IT
Anatomical model for class, depicting an external and inner ear, made out of painted papier mache’ mounted on black painted wood. France circa 1890.
Category
Late 19th Century French Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Plaster, Fruitwood
19th Century Medical Specimen
Located in London, GB
A 19th Century medical specimen, with articulated jaw and removable mandible and cranium cap. This example is of an old, aged female specimen as witho...
Category
1860s Unknown Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Natural Fiber
Mahogany Cased Barograph
Located in Cheshire, GB
Mahogany cased barograph, having five glazed removable lid, and a drawer below to house the charts. The mechanical eight-day movement is housed in the drum, fitted with a seven-day c...
Category
Late 19th Century British Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Mahogany
Antique Brass Czech Orrery Astronomical Instruments Made by Jan Felkl in 1870
By Jan Felkl
Located in Milan, IT
Antique brass orrery planetarium made for the German market by Jan Felkl Prag in the second half of the nineteenth century. Cast iron base, papier mâché´ globe, with detailed territorial map and oceanic currents. Very good condition. Measures: Length 75 cm - 29.5 inch, height 48 cm - 18.8 inch, width 28 cm - 11 inch.
Shipping in insured by Lloyd's London and the gift box is free (look at the last picture).
Jan Felkl (1817-1878) was born in Bohemia and already in 1840 he had designed some globes in 6 different sizes. During the following 20 years he became the biggest maker of globes in market Austro-Hungarian, making terrestrial and celestial globes in 17 different languages, lunar globes and planetaria.
Felkl showed his globes at international fairs in 1867 in Paris and in 1873 in Vienna. He established his Geographic and lithographic Institute in Prague for Making globes and maps. In 1870 he moved his factory from Prague to Roztok and his youngest son became his partner in the firm now named Felkl & Son, making globes and selling them all over the Europe and also in the Usa.
Shipping is insured by Lloyd's London; our gift box is free (look at the last picture).
The orrery is the most detailed and complex representation of the cosmos and in addition to the movement of stars,it includes movement of the sun, moon and planets, like a giant clock mechanism. Among these devices one of the oldest was an orrery by Archimedes, which Cicero speaks widely in Tusculanae Disputationes I, 63: when Roman troops sacked Syracuse in 212 BC, the consul Marcus Claudius Marcellus in Rome brought the instrument of Archimedes, who, thanks to his ability and divine intelligence that he possessed, had managed to generate the motions of planets, each so different, from a single rotation.
Because of heliocentric system theorized by Copernicus, it was possible to create mechanical antique orreries...
Because of heliocentric system theorized by Copernicus, it was possible to create mechanical antique orreries...
Category
1860s Czech Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Iron
Early 19th c.Medical Teaching Device- Shadowboxed Wax Fetus Models c.1800-1850
Located in San Francisco, CA
ABOUT
Two early 19th century British wax models of a fetuses with attached placenta. Used as a medical teaching device. Numbered and attached to a velvet background. In a sealed woo...
Category
Early 19th Century Mid-Century Modern Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood, Velvet
21th Century Solid Silver Ruler By Richard O.A Jarvis, England, c.2003
Located in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent
An early 21st century novelty "Premier Rule" measuring ruler with all the British Prime Ministers listed from Sir Robert Walpole 1721 up until Tony Blair 1997. It is made of solid silver, featuring centimeter and inch measuring markers. Presented in a beautiful original box. Hallmarked English Silver (925 standard), London, year 2003 (d), Maker Richard O.A. Jarvis (Richard Jarvis...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary British Scientific Instruments
Materials
Silver
c.1800 Portable English Orrery by W. Robinson
Located in Greenlawn, NY
c.1800 Portable English Orrery by W. Robinson
The circular base is covered with a brightly decorated polychrome paper that shows the astrological houses, the months, visual displays...
Category
Early 1800s English Other Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
Late 19th C Gemstone Mineral & Semi Precious Stone Specimens Display Case Curio
Located in Lowestoft, GB
Just the most wonderful collection of mineral specimens, housed in there original birds eye maple case.
Each specimen is encased in a hand blown glass convex vial, along with a corr...
Category
Late 19th Century English Late Victorian Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Natural Fiber, Birdseye Maple, Pine
19th century thermometer in original case
Located in Debenham, Suffolk
19th century thermometer in original case circa 1890.
Fine quality thermometer which measures between -45 degrees centigrade and +50. In ful...
Category
Late 19th Century Swedish Victorian Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass
Antique Victorian Art Nouveau Cast Brass Wall Hanging Alcohol Thermometer 8.5"
Located in Dayton, OH
Late 19th century Victorian brass wall hanging thermometer. Simple art nouveau styling with scallops and flowers. Indicates temperatures up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit and 50 degrees C...
Category
Late 19th Century Art Nouveau Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
Small Antique Pharmacist's Measuring Cup, English, Glass, Apothecary, Victorian
Located in Hele, Devon, GB
This is a small antique pharmacist's measuring cup. An English, glass and leather apothecary measure, dating to the late Victorian period, circa 190...
Category
Late 19th Century British Late Victorian Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass
19th Century Brass and Wooden Jewelry Scale
Located in High Point, NC
Loyally underhand for quickly weighing out gemstones and precious medals, this trustworthy sidekick was once the prized tool for the detailed work of the jeweler. Made in France in t...
Category
19th Century French French Provincial Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
Dutch Opera glasses by J.M.Schmidt, Amsterdam, ca 1890
Located in Delft, NL
Dutch Opera glasses by J.M.Schmidt, Amsterdam, ca 1890
Mother of pearl Opera glasses with brass adjustable in degrees and length for visibility. The name and address of the optician...
Category
Late 19th Century Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
Oversize steelbridge scale for butcher's use, Kingdom of Sardinia 1800.
Located in Milan, IT
Figurative brass Butcher’s weighbridge. Weighs up to 44 pounds. Complete of main “ Romano” principal weight and additionals “Romanos” for detailed weight. Pedimont and Sardinia King...
Category
Early 19th Century Italian Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
Grande Bilancia Italiana in Ferro su Capitello Scolpito 1800 a Due Piatti
Located in Milan, IT
Alta quasi 51 inches, questa grande bilancia italiana del XIX secolo è realizzata con un capitello corinzio intagliato a motivi folgiati, scolpito con foglie di acanto e laccato, u...
Category
Early 19th Century Italian Louis XV Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Iron, Metal
Antique American "Bausch & Lomb" Compound Monocular Microscope, Circa 1890-1910.
Located in New Orleans, LA
Antique American "Bausch & Lomb" Microscope in Compound Monocular Design, Circa 1890-1910.
Rochester, NY
Category
Late 19th Century American Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
Late 19th Century Charles X Eglomise Barometer
Located in Charlottesville, VA
This is a pretty French barometer with pretty decoration. Made in the Late 19th Century.
Category
19th Century French Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Brass
Laboratory Trebuchet Balance By Maison Mabille In Paris.
Located in BARSAC, FR
Pharmacy/laboratory trebuchet scale in its all-sided glass case, a vertical sliding door on the front, a storage drawer at the bottom.
Complete with its original accessories, functi...
Category
Late 19th Century French Art Nouveau Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass, Wood
A pair of celestial and terrestrial globes, E.Pini, Gussoni & Dotti, Italy 1892.
Located in Milan, IT
Pair of Italian globes. On an ebonized wooden base, worked on the lathe, with a circular foot and perfect patina, are placed: a celestial globe of 9,2 inches, compiled by the enginee...
Category
1890s Italian Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Wood
Transparent blown glass laboratory retort from the early 19th century.
Located in Milan, IT
An early 19th-century transparent blown glass laboratory retort used for distillation, it has an ovoid body and long downward-bent neck that gradually narrows toward the mouth.
Very...
Category
1820s Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass
Transparent blown glass laboratory retort from the early 19th century.
Located in Milan, IT
An early 19th-century transparent blown glass laboratory retort used for distillation, it has a pyriform body and long neck bent downward that gradually narrows toward the mouth.
Bo...
Category
1820s Antique Scientific Instruments
Materials
Glass
Vintage, New and Antique Scientific Instruments
Decorating with vintage, new and antique scientific instruments, as well as other authentic collectibles and curiosities that can be found on 1stDibs, presents an opportunity to create a unique, natural history museum-like atmosphere in your home that can provoke conversation as often as it pays tribute to how far we’ve come in understanding our world.
The Age of Discovery (or the Age of Exploration) refers to a period during the 15th to 18th centuries that saw Europeans taking to the high seas to explore, trade and conquer various regions of the world. What we know about geography, the advancement of sea vessels and the development of scientific instruments all broadened significantly during this time.
With every new finding about our world, scientists invented tools to measure and record. While many of these objects are now obsolete, they are essentially works of art and have a rich history. Scientific instruments of a bygone era represent how far science and technology have advanced.
If you’re interested in introducing antique scientific instruments and tools to your decor to add contrast or draw attention to otherwise unexplored corners of your living room or dining room, there are many options to consider as far as textures and colors go. Like any curious decorative object that draws attention to your home library or mantel, vintage scientific instruments will likely add spirit to any conversation that might take place over cocktails or dinner.
Create an intriguing focal point with Georgian scientific instruments, such as stick barometers with mahogany cases or lacquered brass telescopes. These items stem from an era named for the monarchies of the four King Georges, who ruled England in succession starting in 1714 (plus King William’s reign, which lasted until 1837). Just as there was beautiful jewelry produced during the period that today is coveted by collectors, there is much to be found in the collectibles and curiosities realm too.
Mid-century modern scientific instruments also capture a period of rapid progress, representing groundbreaking discoveries that defined the 20th century. Wouldn’t antique anatomical models of the 1950s pair well with your eye-catching abstract paintings, George Nelson clock or Florence Knoll sofa?
Whether you’re looking for a way to showcase your passion for chemistry or aviation or are making room in your foyer for a breathtaking industrial-style electronic time tower manufactured by Patek Philippe, 1stDibs offers a collection of vintage, new and antique scientific instruments that includes topographic tools, laboratory equipment and more.
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