Russell W. Porter (Am. 1871-1949) extremely rare original art nouveau bronze garden telescope, bearing serial #21, on original concrete pedestal with old filled voids, the telescope in as is condition, missing ocular lens and focus device. Porter was the founder of the amateur telescope-making movement in America, who designed and patented this fully operational 6 inch f/4 telescope in the 1920's. Fewer than 60 are believed to have been made, with only 14 known examples documented by Porter biographer Berton C. Willard. One bearing serial #49 is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. The last example known to reach auction, bearing serial #53, sold at Skinner in Boston on March 24, 2007 as lot #396 for $18,000 hammer price. Base: 38 1/2" high, 14 " square; telescope: 32 1/4" high, 10 3/4" wide, 12 1/2" deep. Property of a New Jersey Gentleman