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History of Science Museum

Frame Containing Six Photographs (Daguerreotypes, Photomicrographs) of Microscopical Specimens, by J. B. L. Foucault, 1844

Inventory Number 11956


Acknowledgement: © History of Science Museum, University of Oxford, inv.11956

Item type
Object
Provenance
Presented by the Royal Microscopical Society. Formerly on loan from the Society to the Science Museum, London (their accession number 1989-1203); transferred to the Museum of the History of Science in 2005. Presented to the Royal Microscopical Society by A. Nachet in 1905.
Primary inscriptions
Each daguerreotype signed and dated by scratching on the daguerreotype surface outside bottom right of circular image, in the form 'L. Foucault | June 1844'. Captioned on the front of the mount: '6 Micro-Daguereotypes Blood, Milk, Corpuscle, Cristals, &c.. | made by L. Foucault in the year 1844 | signature and date on the right | Presented to the Royal microscopical Society | by A. Nachet. F.R.M.S. Paris December 1905'.
Physical material
Copper
Card
Glass
Wood
Object type
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
Height: 311mm Width: 500mm
Inventory No
11956
Accession Number
2013-30

Description

Six daguerreotypes mounted beneath a card mat in a plain wooden frame. The daguerreotypes show through six oblong apertures, but the images on them are circular. They were cleaned and the ensemble sealed to conservation backing board in 1984 by B. Howarth-Loomes.