The Artificer's Eye: A discussion of the role of artistic design and artisanal flair in the design and construction of astronomical instruments made in Britain between 1700-1800.Introduction

At the dawn of the eighteenth century, there was considerable and rapid change within natural philosophy and almost all forms of natural enquiry.[footnoteRef:1] A new mechanical philosophy had emerged over the course of the seventeenth century, and was well established in Britain, as well as in much of Western Europe by 1700.[footnoteRef:2] The development of institutions such as the Royal Society and Gresham College in England and LAcademie des Sciences in Paris towards the end of the seventeenth century highlighted a growing concern with natural enquiry and interrogation of the natural world.[footnoteRef:3] Mathematics was increasingly perceived as vital to understanding the natural world.[footnoteRef:4] One of the principle components and vectors of these changes in natural enquiry and knowledge production was instruments.[footnoteRef:5] There was an increasingly large market in the eighteenth century for instruments of all kinds, including those connected directly or related to astronomy.[footnoteRef:6] [1: Bennett, Jim. The Mechanics Philosophy and the Mechanical Philosophy History of Science, No. 24, (1986): 1-28; and also Stewart, Larry. Other Centres of Calculation, or, Where the Royal Society Didnt Count: Commerce, Coffee-Houses and Natural Philosophy in Early Modern London The British Journal for the History of Science 32, No. 2, (June 1999): 133-153, pp 133-4; and also Stewart, Larry. Science, Instruments, and Guilds in Early-Modern Britain Early Science and Medicine 10, No. 3 (2005): 392-410, pp 392-3. ] [2: Bennett, The Mechanics Philosophy, 1-2; and also Zilsel, Edgar. The Origins of William Gilberts Scientific Method Journal of the History of Ideas 2, No. 1, (January 1941): 1-32, pp. 26; and also Stewart, Other Centres, 133-4; and also Stewart, Science, 392-3, 410; and also Hooper-Greenhill, E. Museums and the Shaping of Knowledge, (London, Routledge, 1992), pp. 78-166.] [3: Bennett, The Mechanics Philosophy, 7-8, 11; and also Sorrenson, Richard. George Graham, Visible Technician The British Journal for the History of Science 32, No. 2, (June 1999):203-221, pp. 210; and also Stewart, Other Centres, 134-5; and also Daston, Lorraine and Park, Katherine. Wonders and the Order of Nature, (Cambridge, MIT Press, 1998): pp. 215-254.] [4: Bennett, The Mechanics Philosophy, 2-4; and also Johnston, Stephen. Mathematical Practitioners and Instruments in Elizabethan England Annals of Science 48, (1991): 319-344, pp. 319-20.] [5: Stewart, Other Centres, 134-40; and also Stewart, Science, 392-3, 404-7; and also Bennett, Jim. Presidential Address: Knowing and Doing in the Sixteenth Century: What Were Instruments For? The British Journal for the History of Science 36, No. 2 (2003): 129-50, pp. 129-33; and also Smith, R. The Norton History of the Human Sciences, (London, Norton, 1997): 501-29, pp. 501-6.] [6: Stewart, Other Centres, 133-4, 7-9, 152-3; and also Stewart, Science, 393-4, 400, 408-9, 412; and also Grieg, H. and Riello, G. Eighteenth-Century Interiors Redesigning the Georgian: Introduction Journal of Design History 20, No. 4 (September 2007): 273-290, pp 273.]

Astronomy has existed in one form or another, for millennia. Over four and a half thousand years ago Stonehenge in England was used as an astronomical instrument.[footnoteRef:7] By the turn of the eighteenth century however the remit of Astronomy had considerably diversified and a significant aspect of natural philosophical enquiry concerned developing an understanding of the cosmos, sun, moon, and stars.[footnoteRef:8] As such, many different areas of natural philosophical investigation, and natural enquiry, touched upon and increasingly collaborated with astronomy in the eighteenth century.[footnoteRef:9] Mathematics, surveying and navigation all both informed astronomical study and were informed by it, indeed at the time, astronomy was for many a mathematical pursuit, as it relied so heavily on the use of instruments.[footnoteRef:10] [7: North, John. Stonehenge: A new Interpretation of Prehistoric Man and the Cosmos (London, Free Press, 1996), pp. 434-498.] [8: Stewart, Other Centres, 133, 139, 147-8; and also Stewart, Science, 393, 401; and also Sorrenson, 210.] [9: Ibid, 210; and also Stewart, Other Centres, 137, 139-41, 144-5, ; and also Stewart, Science, 393, 405.] [10: Stewart, Other Centres, 137, 140; and also Sorrenson, 210.]

Mathematics and astronomy were deeply intertwined, the observation of astronomical phenomena being quantified, tabulated and even predicted with the assistance of mathematical calculation.[footnoteRef:11] The rise during the seventeenth century of the mechanical philosophy furthered this connection, as the empirical study of a mechanical cosmos, particularly of astronomical time, relied heavily on mathematics and mathematically calibrated instrumentation, such as sectors, drawing instruments, compasses, and rulers.[footnoteRef:12] Astronomy meanwhile provided constant values with which mathematics could further inquiry into the natural world, such as the time taken for the earth to complete a rotation on its axis or around the sun (still a not-entirely uncontentious supposition).[footnoteRef:13] [11: Kochiras, Hylarie. The Mechanical Philosophy and Newtons Mechanical Force. Philosophy of Science 80, No. 4 (October 2013): 557-578, pp. 564; and also Stewart, Other Centres, 137.] [12: Kochiras, 560-3; and also Bennett, The Mechanics Philosophy, 1-3; and also Malet, Antoni, Early Conceptualizations of the Telescope as an Optical Instrument, Early Science and Medicine 10 No. 2 (2005): 23762; pp. 237-9.] [13: Bennett, Jim. Sphere No. 3: Armillary and Orrery by John Rowley, Museum of the History of Science [accessed 28 May 2014]; and also Wray, Brad. Selection and Predictive Success. Erkenntnis 72, No. 3 (May 2010): 365-377, pp. 370; and also Crowther, Kathleen M., and Peter Barker, Training the Intelligent Eye: Understanding Illustrations in Early Modern Astronomy Texts, Isis, 104/3 (2013): 42970, pp. 469.]

Surveying and astronomy were increasingly linked during this period. As surveying instruments (such as sextants and quadrants among others) became more practical, the use of these in mapping and studying astronomical phenomena became more common. Similarly astronomical observations were able to provide datum points when surveying.[footnoteRef:14] [14: Kochiras, 560-3; and also Sturmy, Samuel, The Mariners Magazine: Stord with the Following Mathematical Arts: The Rudiments of Navigation and Geometry ... Also the Penalties and Forfeitures Relating to the Customs, and to Navigation. With Tables of Logarithms, Sines and Tangents ..., The fourth edition with useful additions. (London, 1700). ]

Navigation, an increasingly important skill still between an art and a professionalised discipline, was similarly invested in astronomy. The determination of both latitude and longitude on land and sea was dependent on astronomical observations, such as the observation of the eclipses of Jupiters satellites to determine longitude on land, or the observation of the relative position of the moon to other stellar bodies to determine longitude at sea.[footnoteRef:15] Navigational instruments, such as sextants, astronomical rings, and compasses could all be used in astronomical investigation. Navigational astronomy was at the forefront of astronomical research at the time, and the growing need for more accurate oceanic navigation throughout Europe and the wider world helped drive both navigation and astronomy forward, along with the instruments they used.[footnoteRef:16] Astronomy therefore influenced and was influenced by many other disciplines and areas of natural philosophy and natural enquiry. [15: Bennett, Jim. The Trials and Travels of Mr. Harrisons Timekeeper. In Marie Nolle Bourguet, Christian Licoppe, and H. Otto Sibum (eds.) Instruments, Travel and Science: Itineraries of Precision from the Seventeenth to the Tewentieth Century. (London, Routledge, 2002): 79-95, pp. 76-8; and also Barrett, K. Explaining themselves: The Barrington papers, the Board of Longitude, and the fate of John Harrison Notes and Records of the Royal Society 65, (January, 2011): 145-162, pp. 150.] [16: Anderson, Matthew Smith. Europe in the Eighteenth Century: 1713-1783. (Longmans, Green, 1961): 237-9, 242; and also Fernie, J. Donald. Marginalia: The Harrison-Maskelyne Affair. American Scientist 91, No. 5 (September-October 2003): 403-6, pp. 403.]

The Astronomical Instrument

The breadth and scope of astronomical enquiry meant that there was an equally substantial body of instruments used for astronomical investigation during the eighteenth century, many of them differing intended uses and origins. Even the telescope, often regarded as the most significant astronomical instrument to exist, had origins outside of astronomy.[footnoteRef:17] The telescope was a spotting instrument, not intended to be pointed to the heavens. Another well known astronomical instrument, the astrolabe, had a multitude of uses beyond astronomy, though by the eighteenth century it was falling out of popular use and very few astrolabes were made in Britain beyond the seventeenth century.[footnoteRef:18] This therefore begs the question, what constitutes an astronomical instrument? [17: Van Helden, A. The Invention of the Telescope. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 67, No. 4 (1977): 1-67, pp. 5. ] [18: Zuidervaart, H. J. The true inventor of the telescope. A survey of 400 years of debate. Albert Van Helden, Sven Dupr, Rob van Gent, Huib Zuidervaart (eds.) The Origins of the Telescope. (Middelburg, Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2009): pp. 9-14; and also Van Helden, pp. 6-7; and also Latham, Marcia, The Astrolabe, The American Mathematical Monthly, 24/4 (1917), 16268, pp. 162, 6-7.]

If astronomical instruments were to mean instruments devised and intended solely for the investigation of astronomical phenomena, there would be very few in the eighteenth century indeed. The orrery could perhaps fall into such a restrictive category, the first nominative orrery being developed in 1704 by renowned mathematical instrument maker John Rowley (though there appears to be evidence that the Antikythera Mechanism may have been a form of orrery as well, some 1800 years previously).[footnoteRef:19] However, to pretend that the orrery was the only form of astronomical instrument in use in the eighteenth century would obfuscate a vast portion of astronomical discovery and history. Astronomical instruments therefore can be taken to simply mean portable instruments which were used for the study of celestial bodies which, as shown above, includes instruments from mathematics, surveying, and navigation among others. [19: Marchant, Jo, In Search of Lost Time, Nature, 444/7119 (2006), 53438; and also Calvert, Henry Reginald. Astronomy: globes, orreries & other models (London, H.M.S.O, 1967); and also Bennett, Sphere No. 3. ]

The Artisan

Having defined the astronomical instrument, it is important now to define the artisan. In eighteenth century Britain there were a vast range of practical manufacturing trades, many of which were represented or managed by guilds.[footnoteRef:20] Some instrument makers worked alone to design and manufacture their instruments, others were part of a large group of people with individual skills who collaborated to produce and work different parts of an instrument.[footnoteRef:21] People from both groups can be considered artisans in this context, as they were all responsible for the design and manufacture of these instruments to varying degrees. Their role in the development of astronomy in eighteenth century Britain should be clear, the role of artistic design and artisanal flair perhaps a little less so. [20: Stewart, Science, 394, 396, 407; and also Hering, D. Art in Clockmaking and Watchmaking The Scientific Monthly 40, No. 6 (June 1935):519-534, pp. 529.] [21: Stewart, Science, 407-9; and also McKendrick, N. Josiah Wedgwood and Factory Discipline The Historical Journal 4, No. 1 (1961): 30-55, pp. 33-6.]

aesthetic in eighteenth century british astronomical Instruments

Within the category of instruments principally affiliated with and related to the study of astronomy, three main instrument types will be considered: armillary spheres, telescopes and orreries.

The armillary sphere was still in use in the eighteenth century. Traditionally they featured a model earth in the centre of a rotating sphere upon which was a map of the stars and planets. Their traditional embodiment of the Ptolemaic celestial model (the cosmos revolving around the earth) led to may armillaries losing their value as astronomical instruments as the Copernican model (the earth revolving around the sun) became increasingly pervasive in the eighteenth century. This meant that artisans needed to make innovations to their design in order to keep armillaries relevant beyond curiosities, and maintain the thriving instrument market in Britain (especially London) at the time.[footnoteRef:22] A significant innovation in the design of armillary spheres was the inclusion within them of small models of the solar system, seen in work by several British makers of the time ( for example fig 1 & 2), around which the rotation of the cosmos became a function of practicality rather than philosophical truth. This allowed armillary spheres to remain philosophically current whilst preserving their usefulness for astronomical study. [22: Ibid, 393-4, 401,404-9; and also Stewart, Other Centres, 140, 146-8, 150.]

As can be seen in figures 1 and 2, these new kinds of armillary spheres were of intricate construction, but had a minimalist approach to ornament. The engraving work on both armillaries, and on many others, is clear and easily read, with very little by way of ostentation or ornament to distract from the graduations. The artisans who produced these two armillaries are different also. Glynne was an apprentice of Henry Wynne (himself an apprentice of Greatorex) and trained as a mathematical instrument maker, and never achieved the great reputation and regard that Rowley did.[footnoteRef:23] Rowley was, on the other hand, extremely successful as a mathematical instrument maker, though he had trained as an engraver.[footnoteRef:24] Both of them however generally produced instruments with an emphasis on ease of comprehension, cleanliness and utility. [23: Davis, J. History St. Hughs College, [Accessed 29 May 2014]; and also Warner, Deborah. Terrestrial Magnetism: For the Glory of God and the Benefit of Mankind Osiris 2, Vol. 9, (1994): 66-84, pp. 70; and also Calvert, H. R. Scientific Trade Cards in the Science Museum Collection (London, H.M.S.O., 1971), p.23; and also Millburn, J. Benjamin Martin and the Development of the Orrery The British Journal for the History of Science 6, No. 4 (Dec 1973): 378-399, pp. 384.] [24: Stewart, Science, 401,403; and also Bennett, Sphere No. 3.]

This cleanliness can also be seen in other British astronomical instruments of the time, telescopes and orreries were both often plainly decorated too, as can be seen in figures 3 and 4. Were the trend towards simplicity motivated mainly by utility, the telescope could reasonably be expected to more often bear ornamentation on its outer casing, as the outward appearance would not affect the inner working or its use in any way. However, this can be seen to not be the case. They were often wrapped in a dyed skin, for example rayskin or vellum, but this was in all likelihood as much for comfort as for the sake of appearance.Many British telescopes of the

period were not decorated at all, their casings left entirely plain.

fig. 1: Armillary sphere and orrery by John Rowley, London, c. 1700. By permission of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

fig. 2: Armillary orrery, by Richard Glynne, London, c. 1710-30. By permission of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

fig. 3: Refracting telescope, by Samuel Scatliff, London, c. 1740. By permission of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

Orreries were new instruments in the eighteenth century, one of the first being made by John Rowley for the fourth Earl of Orrery (hence the instruments common name, it is more properly known as a tellurium) in 1712.[footnoteRef:25] Similarly, it could be expected that orreries would permit considerable scope for ornament and ostentation, and while this is the case of a few (for instance in fig. 5) many orreries were plain and utilitarian in aesthetic and design. [25: Bennett, Sphere No. 3; and also Anon. Original Orrery Planetary Model by John Rowley, 1712-1713, 2007 [accessed 29 May 2014]; and also Millburn, 382-3, 95.]

Many of the astronomical instruments made in Britain during the eighteenth century bore a plain, clean aesthetic, even when one was not needed. The reasons for this are not immediately clear. There are some astronomical instruments with ornamentation made in Britain during this time (such as in fig. 5), but those that do are generally both costly and destined for the aristocracy.

fig. 4: Orrery, by Thomas Tompion and George Graham, London, c.1710. By permission of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

fig. 5. Original orrery planetary model, by John Rowley, 1712-13. By permission of the Science Museum, London, and the Science & Society Picture Library.

Natural philosophical investigation, and therefore astronomical instruments, was extremely fashionable during the eighteenth century, and the popular market for instruments existed in primarily two strata.[footnoteRef:26] The rise in off the shelf instruments meant that most people interested in acquiring one, either a natural philosophical practitioner (itself an incredibly broad label) or someone interested in acquiring one for its fashionable status (there is also nothing to say that these two groups did not overlap), would acquire one ready made from the artisans shop. These astronomical instruments typically had a clean, simple aesthetic and an inornate design. However, sufficiently moneyed individuals (overwhelmingly, but not exclusively, of the aristocracy at this time) would more often commission an artisan to construct an instrument for them, and these luxury instruments would more frequently (but not always) be ornamented and more ostentatious than the norm.[footnoteRef:27] Ostentation in astronomically designs instruments was clearly not the norm however, and this is similarly the case for other kinds of instruments as well. [26: Bennett, The Mechanics Philosophy, 1-3; and also Stewart, Science, 405, 408-9; and also Stewart, Other Centres, 136, 139, 147; and also Stewart, Larry. A Meaning for Machines: Modernity, Utility and the Eighteenth-Century British Public The Journal of Modern History 70, No. 2 (June 1998): 259-294, pp. 265.] [27: Stewart, Science, 403; and also Millburn, 395; and also Grieg and Riello, 280; and also Iliffe, Rob. Material Doubts: Hooke, Artisan Culture and the Exchange of Information in 1670s London The British Journal for the History of Science 28, No. 3 (September 1995): 285-318, pp. 303; and also Hill, K. Junglers or Schollers?: Negotiating the Role of a Mathematical Practitioner The British Journal for the History of Science 31, No. 3 (September 1998): 253-274, pp. 273-4.]

Aesthetic in eighteenth century mathematical instruments

Whilst all of the instruments discussed above have been labelled as mathematical instruments in past literature, there is also scope here for mathematical instruments not typically connected with the study of celestial bodies, but which nevertheless played a part in astronomical practice.[footnoteRef:28] Chief among which were sectors and drawing instruments such as trammels and compasses. Sectors, among many countless uses, could be used for sighting and finding the elevation of astronomical phenomena (in particular Grahams zenith sector, in essence a telescope mounted to a large mathematical sector, which was used to discover nutation of the earths axis, the time taken for the suns light to reach the earth, and other astronomical phenomena[footnoteRef:29]), as well as the calibration of astronomical sighting equipment such as telescopes.[footnoteRef:30] Drawing instruments could be used for the production of scale drawings and maps of the night sky, especially the geometric ellipses and circles observed in the apparent movement of the celestial sphere. These drawings would prove essential in the astronomical textbooks and numerous paper instruments circulating at the time.[footnoteRef:31] For the most part these instruments exhibited the same aesthetic as many astronomical instruments, clean,plain and utilitarian (fig. 6 and 8), though again there is clearly the capacity for artistic flair for curiosity pieces and commissioned luxury items (for instance in fig. 7). [28: Van Helden, 30; and also Stewart, Science, 396-7; and also Johnston, 331; and also Crowther and Barker, 452-3.] [29: Anon. Zenith Sector, National Maritime Museum [accessed 29 May 2014]; and also Sorrenson, 206-8, 214. ] [30: Ibid, 206, 216.] [31: Bennett, Knowing and Doing, 140-1; and also Crowther, K and Barker, 444-70.]

fig. 6: Pocket set of drawing instruments, England, 18th century. By permission of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

Common sets of drawing instruments sold in Britain during the eighteenth century were as plain and utilitarian as the bulk of the astronomical instruments being made and sold at the same time. The containing case bears the only ornamentation, a dyed shagreen very common on cases and containers of instruments at the time (similar wrapping can be found on some telescope casings from the era).

fig. 7: Elliptical compasses, probably English, c. 1800. By permission of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

It remains the case however that some mathematical instruments can be designed with deliberate ornament, so the capacity for such design was clearly available to eighteenth century British artisans. However, like most astronomical instruments, the aesthetic of mathematical instruments remained plain and utilitarian, in contrast to the generally more ornate and classical artistic styles prevalent at the time.[footnoteRef:32] [32: Umbach, Maiken. Classicism, Enlightenment and the Other: thoughts on decoding eighteenth-century visual culture Art History 25, No. 3 (June 2002): 319-40, pp. 325-7; and also Guyatt, Mary. The Wedgwood Slave Medallion: Values in Eighteenth-Century Design Journal of Design History 13, No. 2 (2000): 93-105, pp. 93-4; and also Crowther and Barker, 434-6.]

fig. 8: Sector, by Edmund Culpeper, London, c. 1700. By permission of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

Aesthetic in eighteenth century British surveying and navigational instruments

Instruments for surveying and navigating were also used in astronomical natural enquiry during the eighteenth century.[footnoteRef:33] In addition many instruments used in navigation were also used in surveying, and vice versa. Mariners quadrants could be used as surveying quadrants, and indeed there were several hybrid devices developed in London and elsewhere during the eighteenth century that straddled these disciplines. An example of which is the astronomical ring, which could be used as an astronomical instrument, a navigational aid, and a surveying tool (fig. 9).[footnoteRef:34] [33: Saito, F. History of Mathematics and History of Science: Some remarks concerning contextual framework Educ. Matem. Pesq 14, No. 3 (2012): 363-385, pp. 378; and also Iliffe, 290-1; and also Stewart, Science, 408; and also Malet, 237-8.] [34: Gunther, R. T. The Astrolabes of the World, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1932), Vol. II, pp. 326-327; and also Crowther and Barker, 442.]

fig. 9: Astronomical Ring Dial with Quadrant, by Gilbert and Gilkerson, London, c. 1800. By permission of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

The overwhelming majority of surveying and navigational instruments have a very clean, minimal aesthetic, with an attention on utilitarian design and ease of understanding and use (see figs 9 and 10). Very few examples from eighteenth-century Britain have any form of ornamentation.

fig. 10: Sextant, by Dollond, London, c. 1760. By permission of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

The role of artistic design and artisanal flair

Traditional notions of artistic design and flair therefore do not seem to apply to many of the instruments used in astronomical practice during the eighteenth century. However, the establishment of a clean aesthetic with minimal ornamentation is in and of itself a significant statement in artistic design, especially when juxtaposed with the broader artistic tendencies of eighteenth century Britain. Throughout the eighteenth century ornament and intricacy of design were increasingly fashionable in material design.[footnoteRef:35] [35: Umbach, Maiken. Classicism, Enlightenment and the Other: thoughts on decoding eighteenth-century visual culture Art History 25, No. 3 (June 2002):319-40, pp. 325-7; and also Guyatt, Mary. The Wedgwood Slave Medallion: Values in Eighteenth-Century Design Journal of Design History 13, No. 2 (2000): 93-105, pp. 93-4; and also Crowther and Barker, 434-6; and also Grieg and Riello, 274-5.]

The clean, utilitarian aesthetic of the majority of these instruments can therefore be seen as a fresh, discrete aesthetic against the context of eighteenth century Britain. However, as can be seen in several examples, astronomical instruments and others could be ornamented and artistic (see figures 5 and 7), and in other areas, such as watchmaking, the use of ornament was far more prevalent.[footnoteRef:36] [36: Hering, 521-3, 533-4.]

There was clearly a capacity for ostentation in the design of astronomical instruments that was not being exploited in the majority of the objects that artisans were producing in eighteenth century Britain. The discussion of telescopes above has already highlighted that this cleanliness was not solely a product of necessity, even instruments which could safely bear ornament without interfering with their functionality or use seldom did. What then is the cause of this aesthetic?

At first glance growing international competition may be the answer, as European imperial powers began to establish themselves and national identities matured.[footnoteRef:37] The growing market for instruments could also have led to increasing attempts by artisans in the leading European centres of production; London, Paris, Nuremberg and so on, to differentiate themselves.[footnoteRef:38] However, examination of contemporary instruments from mainland Europe illustrates that there was a similar lack of ornamentation in many of the devices built there (figures 11 and 12). There may however be a case for more ornamentation being found in European instrument cases and stands. This indicates that the cause for the simple, instrumental aesthetic wasnt international competition or discrimination. [37: Stewart, Other Centres, 133; and also Fernie, 404; and also Guyatt, 95; and also Warner, 69-70.] [38: Bennett, J. Nuremberg Places, [Accessed 29 May 2014].]

An alternative supposition may be that the divide is between ready-made and luxury goods. Again this is understandable, as the growth of the instrument market throughout Europe led to new quantities and techniques of production, including a move toward factory techniques, divided labour, and off the shelf commerce.[footnoteRef:39] However again examination of some luxury astronomical instruments of the time (for examples figures 1 and 4) shows that luxury instruments could very often be similarly plain and clean in their design and aesthetic. [39: Stewart, Science, 408-9; and also Stewart, Other Centres, 135-6; and also Stewart, A Meaning for Machines, 265.]

fig. 11: Refracting telescope, by Jan van den Bildt, Holland, C. 1750. With kind permission of Gjalt Kemp.

The impetus behind the artisanal drive for cleanliness and simplicity may be rather more deeply rooted in the cultural context of the time. The eighteenth century, and more broadly the enlightenment, saw increasing growths of interest and of knowledge within the broad canvas of natural philosophy.[footnoteRef:40] [40: Ibid, 133-6, 139-40; and also Stewart, Science, 392-3; and also Kochiras, 563.]

fig. 12: Astronomical Clock and Armillary Sphere, Antide Janvier, Paris, 1798. By permission of the Museum of the History of Science, University of Oxford.

Increasingly empiricism and investigation were the keys to understanding the universe, and this was embodied in the use of instruments. At the same time, the artistic and stylistic fashions of eighteenth-century Europe were increasingly allegorical, style and form of an object had to evoke something of its meaning and purpose.[footnoteRef:41] In this way, the role of the clean, utilitarian artistic design of instruments that established itself during the eighteenth century (though with origins in the seventeenth) was twofold. It was not only an attempt by artisans and their patrons to demarcate and distinguish their instruments, and the philosophy they embodied, from the curiosities and wonders of toymen and cabinets at the time.[footnoteRef:42] But it was also an allegory for the new natural philosophical episteme; the production and discrimination of facts and the investigation of phenomena through enhancement of the human senses.[footnoteRef:43] [41: Umbach, 328, 331; and also Hering, 524. ] [42: MacGregor, A. The Cabinet of Curiosities in 17th Century Britain O. Impey and A. MacGRegor (eds.) The Origins of Museums: The Cabinet of Curiosities in Sixteenth-and-Seventeenth-Century Europe, (Oxford, 1985): 207-8; and also Dennis, F. Some Jeweled Toys of Georgian London The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 5, No. 6 (February 1947): 164-168, pp. 164-5.] [43: Hooper-Greenhill, 78-83; and also Olmi, G. Science Honour Metaphor: Italian cabinets of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries O. Impey and A. MacGregor (eds.), The Origins of Museums: The Cabinet of Curiosities in Sixteenth-and-Seventeenth-Century Europe, (Oxford, 1985): pp. 1-3; and also Foucault. M. The Order of Things, (London, Routledge, 2002).]

Artisanal flair is not to be found in flourishes of ornate metalwork or intricate, original engravings. The way that artisans of the time, in eighteenth century Britain and elsewhere, distinguished themselves was through innovation of design.[footnoteRef:44] Artisanal flair was in ingenuity, objects like the astronomical ring (fig. 9) and the Copernican armillary sphere (fig. 1) were not ostentatious or gaudily ornamented to amaze the prospective customer, they were innovative. Clients and patrons were impressed by the degree of thought put into the utility and practicality of an artisans work. The flair of the artisan therefore can be seen to lay in the creation of more compact, more useful, and more intelligent instruments. [44: Stewart, Science, 394, 396, 401; and also Stewart, Other Centres, 139-40; and also Styles, John, Product Innovation in Early Modern London, Past & Present, No. 168, (August 2000): 12469, pp. 126-8.]

The role of artistic design therefore could be seen as helping to cement the nature of instruments as devices for clarifying and investigating nature. The utilitarian, minimal design of most instruments made them easy to use and understand, and helped demarcate the natural enquiry they had come to materialise as an exact and empirical discipline. This understanding in and of itself would come to help propagate what has come to be known (perhaps anachronistically) as the Scientific Revolution. Further than that, the artistic design of many eighteenth-century instruments, astronomical and otherwise, may have come to serve as an allegory for the broader enlightenment episteme, helping secure in the broader popular consciousness the notion of natural enquiry as an act of precision, certainty, measurement, and quantification.

Similarly the role of artisanal flair is significant. The trend towards utilitarian, minimal designs channelled artisanal innovation and industry into improving and enhancing the utility of many instruments. This drive, propelled as much by commercial competition as by technological limitations, led to increasingly accurate, reliable, compact instruments. As astronomical instruments were developed and invented over the eighteenth century, new forms and sources of data could be gathered with them, leading to the production of new knowledge, and helping to usher in new discoveries in astronomy and beyond.

Therefore the roles of artistic design and artisanal flair in both the design and the construction of these instruments are significant, if not essential, to their propagation and popularity in the eighteenth century. The manner in which they have been shown to have influenced these instruments however is not perhaps what would be expected however, and serves only to highlight the depth and complexity of Enlightenment natural philosophy.

Bibliography.

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