Sixty Years of Scientific Passion: The Morizet Collection
Assembled over nearly sixty years by Michel and Brigitte Morizet, this remarkable ensemble comprises some 750 lots and brings together a wide range of scientific disciplines, from astronomy to architecture, as well as mathematics and mineralogy.
The section devoted to observational sciences and astronomy is distinguished by several exceptional instruments. A remarkable astronomical compendium attributed to Philippe Danfrie, dating from before 1582 (lot 181, estimated at €4,000–€6,000), is among the earliest examples: made of brass, it features two faces allowing the time to be determined both by day and by night. In this same spirit of celestial exploration, a rare portable and dismantlable Gregorian telescope, designed by Passemant, engineer to the King at the Louvre (lot 192, estimated at €3,000–€5,000), illustrates the refinement of optical instruments in the eighteenth century.
The mathematical sciences and the practice of measurement are also well represented. A significant Culpepper-type microscope, dating from around 1770 (lot 356, estimated at €12,000–€15,000), made of brass, ebony, ivory and red morocco leather, stands among the key pieces of the sale. Of considerable size and rare quality, only two other comparable examples are known today. Alongside it, a spectacular natural magnet weighing 11 kg, signed “J. Kley fecit Rotterdam” (lot 44, estimated at €2,000–€3,000), evokes the tradition of scientific demonstration, where objects served as tools for public understanding
Mineralogy also occupies a prominent place, notably with a three-compartment mineralogy case with tray and drawer (lot 67, estimated at €4,000–€6,000). This luxurious box, assembled by Biennais (1764–1846), goldsmith and tabletier “au Singe Violet” on rue Saint-Honoré, Paris, renowned as Napoleon’s silversmith, is among the finest examples remaining in private hands. It contains, among other items, a balance, a blowpipe, weights, a hammer and various glass vials.
Most of these objects were acquired across the globe, from Algeria and Scotland to Indonesia, from where the collectors brought back around twenty Dayak objects included in the sale, as well as a Kriegsmarine sextant.
