Accession No

4076

Brief Description

falling plate camera, by Cambridge and Paul Instrument Company Ltd., English, 1923

Origin

England; Cambridge

Maker

Cambridge and Paul Instrument Company Ltd.

Class

optical; medical

Earliest Date

1923

Latest Date

1923

Inscription Date

Material

wood (mahogany, 1 other); metal (brass, at least 2 white metal); plastic (ivorine); rope (string); cloth (cotton); organic (lubricating fluid); glass

Dimensions

height 670mm; breadth 330mm; depth 190mm

Special Collection

Cambridge Instrument Company Collection

Provenance

Donated by the Cambridge Instrument Company.

Inscription

‘THE
CAMBRIDGE AND PAUL
INSTRUMENT COMPANY LTD
LONDON & CAMBRIDGE
C37197’ (brass plaque on front of instrument)

Description Notes

Falling plate camera, by the Cambridge and Paul Instrument Company, English, 1923.

Mahogany case with hinged back door and close fitting top cover. Back door has rectangular opening which is filled with a black cotton light trap. At the front of the casing is a horizontal slit behind which is mounted a cylindrical lens. The shutter is divided into 3 parts which can be raised or lowered by wooden knobs. A scale in front of the shutter divided 40 - 0 - 40 numbered by 10 subdivided to 1. Inside the casing a photographic plate is suspended on a system of brass wires. The plate is fitted with a light-proof roller-blind shutter. The speed of the plate movement is controlled by a pulley movement and piston which is set outside the main instrument. The piston moves in a black-painted metal cylinder, filled with oil. Graduated micorometer head controls the piston valve opening; ivorine scale divided 0 - 15 numered by 5 subdivided to 1 with micrometer reading to 0.1.

Condition good; complete

References

Events