Claude glass believed to be John Dee's scrying mirror, Europe, undated

Made:
Unknown in Europe
Claude Lorrain mirror in shark skin case Claude Lorrain mirror in shark skin case Claude Lorrain mirror in shark skin case Claude Lorrain mirror in shark skin case

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Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

Buy

License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

License

Creative Commons LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

Buy this image as a print 

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License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library

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Claude Lorrain mirror in shark skin case
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Claude Lorrain mirror in shark skin case
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Claude Lorrain mirror in shark skin case
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Claude Lorrain mirror in shark skin case
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum

Claude Lorrain mirror in shark skin case, believed at one time to be John Dee's scrying mirror

Stored in a sharkskin case and thought to have once belonged to John Dee (1527-1609), an English mathematician and astrologer, this object is known as a Claude glass. Associated with Claude Lorrain (1600-82), a French landscape painter, the base is made from a convex piece of glass with a black blacking. They were normally used by artists to look at landscapes. Dee is said to have used this object to predict the future by looking into the glass as if it were a crystal ball. This practice is known as scrying, a form of divination. Divination is the attempt to predict the future from signs and symbols and has been used for thousands of years in an effort to forecast the course of an illness or find the best treatment.

Details

Category:
Wellcome (general)
Collection:
Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
Object Number:
A127914
Materials:
glass, wood, brass, velvet, lined and sharkskin, covered
Measurements:
overall: 21 mm x 132 mm x 132 mm,
open: 153 mm x 132 mm x 132 mm,
type:
optical drawing aid - claude glass