Accession No

1265

Brief Description

camera lucida, by Watkins and Hill, English, early to mid-19th Century

Origin

England; London; Charing Cross

Maker

Watkins & Hill

Class

optical

Earliest Date

1806

Latest Date

1856

Inscription Date

Material

metal (brass); glass; wood: cloth (velvet, other)

Dimensions

box length 285mm; breadth 66mm; thickness 22mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Originally from the Larmer Collection.

Inscription

‘Watkins & Hill
Charing Cross LONDON’ (clamp)

Description Notes

Brass clamp and rod. Quadrilateral prism in brass mounts with eye shade. Convex and concave lenses hinge in front of prism. Fitted and lined wooden box.

Condition: good/fair (box slightly damaged at one end).

References

Events

Description
The camera lucida (meaning “room of light”) was an aid for artists, surveyors and architects. The camera lucida is a four-sided reflective prism on the end of a supporting arm. When positioned above a horizontal sheet of paper it worked by reflecting an image of the scene or document in front of the artist onto the paper to allow it to be copied, and the sliding bar could be adjusted to produce a reduced or enlarged image.

If an exact copy of an object was needed the prism would be positioned at equal distance from the object and the table. The further the object was from the table the more the image size would be reduced.
This particular camera lucida may have been made by William Hyde Wollaston, who originally invented them in the early 1800s.
23/05/2002
Created by: Izzie Foote on 23/05/2002

FM:42602