The Spectacle of Light
Numerous devices were used in darkened rooms to enchant the guests by generating curious phenomena of light - Isaac Newton's (1642-1727) famous prism experiment that broke white light down into the colours of the rainbow; the jar that replicated the mysterious phenomena of the Aurora Borealis; "serpents" that glowed when subjected to tiny electric sparks.
Aurora flask
Inv. 423
Maker unknown, late 18th cent.
Aurora tube
Inv. 1203
Maker unknown, late 18th cent.
Compound microscope
Inv. 480, 3219, 3221
George Adams junior, London, ca. 1790
Compound microscope
Inv. 3206
Pietro Patroni, Milan, 1726
Lucernal and compound microscope
Inv. 502, 1457, 3222 (scatola), 3243 (microscopio)
George Adams junior, English, ca. 1791
Luminous discharge tubes
Inv. 850, 851
Maker unknown, English?, late 18th cent.
Mounted glass cone
Inv. 771
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.
Mounted prism
Inv. 743
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.
Mounted prism
Inv. 744
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.
Mounted prism
Inv. 774
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.
Mounted prismatic lens
Inv. 770
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.
Mounted prismatic lens
Inv. 769
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.
Mounted prismatic lens
Inv. 768
Maker unknown, second half 18th cent.
Set of mercury friction tubes
Inv. 3765
Maker unknown, first half 18th cent.
Solar microscope
Inv. 3229
Isidoro Gaspare Bazzanti, Italian, 1760
Solar mirror
Inv. 3228
Maker unknown, Italian?, first half 19th cent.