Rare 19th Century, 6-Draw German Silver & Leather Marine Telescope – J.J. Wolff, Southampton (c.1830-1845). A rare piece of 19th-century British maritime history. This premium 6-draw marine spyglass was retailed by the renowned master gunsmith, brass founder, and maritime merchant James Joseph Wolff from his prominent shop at 77 High Street, Southampton. Given Wolff’s narrow operational window and passing in 1845, this telescope can be confidently dated to between 1830 and 1845.While common Victorian telescopes feature 3 or 4 brass draws, this luxury pocket model boasts an elite 6-draw configuration engineered from German silver—a premium copper-nickel-zinc alloy highly favored by wealthy yachtsmen and naval officers for its superior resistance to saltwater corrosion. Wolff was a celebrated local character. Beyond selling telescopes to affluent yachtsmen, he ran covert military arms operations out of Southampton, manufacturing heavy shipboard weaponry used by the British East India Company in Asia and providing cannons to the Mexican government. The "Tartar" Explosion of 1843: Wolff secured a massive order of cannons and gunpowder for the Mexican Government. While loaded onto a ship named the Tartar at the Southampton docks, the vessel caught fire on June 2, 1843. It caused a spectacular sequence of explosions that lit up the night sky and drew thousands of spectators to the town walls. Because Wolff was primarily an arms manufacturer and regional chandler rather than a mass-production optical house, telescopes specifically bearing his High Street stamp are quite rare. Dimensions are 50mm diameter, 160mm long undrawn. 750mm long when fully drawn.