19th Century Victorian Mahogany Microscope Slide Cabinet, 12 Drawers, 72 Slides

Date: 19th Century
PRICE: SOLD
Dimensions: H 18cm W 19,5cm D 18cm
Shipping: $60

Cute little square English Victorian mahogany 12 slide cabinet with 72 microscope slides.
With brass carrying handle, closes with original key and lock on the right side of the box.
Containing 12 little drawers lined with red velvet, each with a numbered bone knob.

The early 1800s brought rapidly increasing exploration of our natural physical world, with invention and development in many optical instruments, including the microscope. Accordingly, a growing demand for prepared objects to study arose, coming from the professional Community as well as interested members of the general public.

Beginning with a few talented entrepreneurs, this growing commercial demand was met with an ever increasing diversity of objects of every imaginable sort, being prepared from specimens and samples collected in a multitude of locations around the world.

By the 1880s most slides were being produced without the full paper wrappings, but many still sported informative and decorative labels, often with coloured ringing cements.

The include 72 slides are as shown in the pictures clearly from different manufacturers and from different periods in the 19th century.