Accession No

3986

Brief Description

polyorama panoptique / viewer with a set of 8 slides, mid-19th C

Origin

France

Maker

Class

optical

Earliest Date

1825

Latest Date

1875

Inscription Date

Material

wood; paper (card and one other); metal (steel, brass, white metal); cloth; glass

Dimensions

breadth 160mm; depth 153mm; height 122mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Sotherby's, London, England, 1992.

Inscription

‘POLYORAMA PANOPTIQUE
BREVET D’INVENTION S.Ghe du Gouvt.’ (top)
‘…ez le crochet en cuivre
…trou pratique dans
…de ce voler’ (back on paper label)

Description Notes

Wooden slide viewer covered in paper. Hinged lid on top which opens to insert slides; steel wire enables lid to be propped open or locked down. Hinged flap on back which is secured by wooden strip which also hinges down to become support for instrument when the concertina paper at the front is extended. Shaped wooden mount for lens.

Eight hand-coloured, each with title on reverse: ‘Angletere’, ‘Versailles’, ‘Environs de Naples’, ‘St Pierre de Rome’, ‘Moscow Porte Rouge’, Palais Royal (Paris)’, ‘ Moscow Chateau de Petrovsky’. One unidentified.

Condition fair; complete

References

Events