Accession No
0813
Brief Description
zoetrope with strips and discs for base, by London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, English, c. 1860
Origin
London; England
Maker
London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company
Class
optical
Earliest Date
1860
Latest Date
1860
Inscription Date
Material
wood; pine; metal; tin; steel; paper
Dimensions
diameter 299mm; overall height 321mm
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from H.M. Fletcher, Enfield, Middlesex, England, on 10/07/1936.
Inscription
‘WHEEL OF LIFE
LONDON STEREOSCOPIC & PHOTOGRAPHIC
COMPY.
[SOLE LICENSEES
SECURED BY ROYAL LETTERS PATENT’ (on base of cylinder)
Description Notes
Zoetrope with strips and discs for base, by London Stereoscopic and Photographic Company, English, c. 1860.
Cylindrical tin body with 13 slits on turned pine base. 7 paper discs for base and 16 strips with pictures in progressive stages of action.
Condition fair; complete
References
Events
Description
This zoetrope tricks your eyes into seeing moving pictures when it spins.
Zoetrope means “wheel of life” in Greek. If you spin the drum and peep through the slits in the side at the strip of pictures within, you’ll see a "moving" image. It comes with a range of different strips for extra fun.
This uses the same optical illusion as videos today. Your eyes see the sequence of still images so quickly that your brain interprets them as continuous motion.
Before the invention of motion pictures using film photography at the end of the 19th century, zoetropes were one way you could experience a moving image.
22/07/2024
Created by: Hannah Price on 22/07/2024
FM:40620
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