Negretti and Zambra

Negretti and Zambra (active 1850 – c. 1985) was a company that produced scientific and optical instruments and also operated a photographic studio based in London.

Henry Negretti (1818–1879) and Joseph Zambra (1822–1897) formed a partnership in 1850, thereby founding the firm which would eventually be appointed opticians and scientific instrument makers to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and King Edward VII, the Royal Observatory and the British Admiralty.

In 1856 Negretti and Zambra sponsored a photographic expedition to Egypt, Nubia and Ethiopia conducted by Francis Frith.

This was then presented to visitors to the Crystal Palace to enable them to compare it with the model erected by Mr. E. T. Parris — better known for his monumental panoramic paintings — in the Centre Transept.

Between 1855 and 1857 Negretti and Zambra commissioned the photographer Pierre Rossier to travel to China to document the Second Opium War.

Negretti Zambra Telescope issued by the British military, date unknown
Detail from Negretti Zambra Telescope issued by the British military, date unknown