Victorian Celluloid Desk Magnifying Glass in Case by Cw Dixey London

For sale, a Victorian Parkesine celluloid rectangular desk magnifying glass in original leather case by CW Dixey of Bond Street, London.

Exquisitely moulded with a looped handle and rectangular mount for the magnifying lens, the material is reminiscent of horn but is actually a fine example of the early use of the celluloid plastic invented by the British inventor Alexander Parkes who was awarded a patent for his invention in 1856. Its properties were shown off with great success at the London 1862 Internation Exhibition where the Dixey family are likely to have been introduced to the possibilities of this new product.

The lens measures 4 inches wide 2 and a half inches high with the overall height being 7 and a quarter inches (or 18.5 cms). It comes complete with it original morocco leather slip case which is impressed with the Royal Warrant crest over the company details, “CW Dixey Optician to The Queen, 3 New Bond Street, London”.

Charles Wastell Dixey or CW Dixey still trades today as a manufacturer and retailer of high end spectacles. The story of the dynasty however, is comprised of two strands of history. The present company’s history on its website is told in relation to the premises at 3 New Bond Street of which the company of G&C Dixey took over in 1825 from William Hawks Grice. Grice had traded at that address from 1818 to 1823. He in turn had taken over the business of the Fraser family in 1818.

The Fraser family had been in business as instrument makers from the 1770’s and are listed at 3 New Bond Street from about 1780. Started by William Fraser, his son Alexander joined the business as William Fraser & Son in 1805 and upon William’s death in 1812, the company was finally listed as just Alexander Fraser. William was a renowned maker and had received a Royal Appointment from George III, an accolade that Alexander kept after his father’s death. The reasons for the Fraser family selling to Grice is unclear but Grice himself seems to have continued the association with the Royal Family according to his, “description of the new improved self-registering thermometer” published in 1818 and from drawing instruments still contained within the Royal Collection. He is also described as a member of the City Philosophical Society and is listed as a contributing member of The Society of Arts in 1820 and 1823. According to the CW Dixey website, Grice is described as an assistant of the Fraser business and some records show him to have been apprenticed to the family business before he bought it. It also makes some reference to Grice having brought the business into ill-repute for having used it as a gambling den but I can find no record of this story. If true, it would explain his short tenure at the property but his membership of notable societies and his continued relationship with the Royal Family would suggest that he was a reputable instrument maker before this time.

Whether it was for reasons of criminal activity or not, the business was eventually sold in 1825 to George & Charles Wastell Dixey. George Dixey is known to have been apprenticed to George Wilson and Charles Wastell Dixey to his father Edward Dixey and Edward’s earlier records of trading form the second strand of the Dixey family story.

Edward’s history is somewhat difficult to unravel, he was born in 1772, the son of John Dixey a victualler or publican in Vine Street, Piccadilly and Catherine Dixey (nee Harris). According to most records, he is considered to have been apprenticed to George Linnell or George Black but more recent research by Anita McConnell shows Edward Dixey to have been apprenticed on the 4th September 1787 for seven years to the top instrument maker Jesse Ramsden at a cost of £21. A Christie’s sale record for a Wilson & Dixey telescope is also marked, “late apprentice to Jesse Ramsden” so the corroboration of these two f