black mirror on stand
Date1830-1870
Inventory Number1997-1-0743
ClassificationPolariscope
Subject
Maker
Jean Baptiste François Soleil
1798 - 1878
Maker
Henri Jean Jacques Soleil
died 1879
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Dimensions49.4 × 29.2 × 27 cm (19 7/16 × 11 1/2 × 10 5/8 in.)
Material
DescriptionThe mirror is framed in mahogany. At the bottom of the frame is a small thumb screw attachment that was used to fixe a filter or other type of optical screen in front of the mirror. The frame is held by a brass telescopic fixture at the back, itself fixed to a turned column on a wooden circular base. The mirror is inclined and held in place with a brass wingnut.
The frame is stamped with an old Harvard inventory number: "10 82".
The frame is stamped with an old Harvard inventory number: "10 82".
Signedon brass fixture: SOLEIL à Paris
FunctionA black mirror acts as a polariscope, meaning that when light is shone on it some wavelengths are absorbed and others are reflected. It would have been used in all sorts of experiments involving polarized light.
Jean Baptiste François Soleil
Date: circa 1840
Accessories: eyepiece; circular supports (2)
Object number: 2015
Jean Baptiste François Soleil
Date: 1840-1860
Accessories: carrying case; objective; double refraction ocular; substage polarizer; rotating stage plate; horizontal case; stage forceps; oculars (2)
Object number: 1215
Jean Baptiste François Soleil
Date: 1840-1850
Object number: 1998-1-1228
Jean Baptiste François Soleil
Date: 1840-1850
Object number: 1998-1-1238
Jean Baptiste François Soleil
Date: 1840-1860
Object number: 2007-1-0431
Jean Baptiste François Soleil
Date: 1840-1850
Object number: 1997-1-1581
Jean Baptiste François Soleil
Date: 1840-1850
Object number: 1998-1-1237