1610546716Code 6821 Vintage tacheometerMedium model tacheometer made of burnished brass with original patina, signed Ing. A. Salmoiraghi La Filotecnica Milano n. 9795, in its original walnut case with some accessories, second half of the XIX century.
It is a scientific instrument used in terrestrial observations to measure horizontal and vertical angles. The instrument consists of a base with adjustment screws, a telescope, vertical circle and horizontal and graduated circle, three small microscopes for reading the circles, double level, English-style tripod socket.
Box size 45x23x20 cm - 17.7x9x7.87 inches, instrument height 32.5 cm - 12.79 inches.
After having stayed and worked in different locations, in Piedmont, in Paris and Florence, Ignazio Porro (1801-1875), well-known scientist, professor of optics, inventor and precursor in the field of wide-angle lenses, settled in Milan and began teaching at Polytechnic. In Milan in 1865 he also founded a school-workshop specialized in the construction of topographic instruments together with Alessandro Duroni, pioneer of Italian photography, with the name of Filotecnica. On the death of Duroni, in 1871, Angelo Salmoiraghi, a pupil of Porro, already a very young soldier during the third war of independence against the Austrians, entered into society with his master and in 1877, after the Porro's death he bought the factory, which took the name of La Filotecnica Ing. A. Salmoiraghi, expanding its product range, producing mathematical instruments for drawing, astronomy, meteorology and navigation; the company builds, among other things, the first Italian sewing machine. During the First World War, it supplied war instruments, mainly aeronautics, and created a camera for aerial photography. In 1927 the company took the name of La Filotecnica Ing. A. Salmoiraghi S.A.. In 1939 Angelo Salmoiraghi died. During the Second World War a large part of the production was dedicated to war equipment and the company was therefore considered a war target: the factories are bombed, but at the end of the conflict the company manages to recover immediately. In the '70s it was bought by Dollond & Aitchinson, together with the firm Viganò, and became the Salmoiraghi Viganò, which in 2017 became the property of Leonardo Del Vecchio's Luxottica.
