A Fallowfield Facile detective-style box plate camera
Category
Photographic technology
Date
1887 - 1897
Materials
Wood, Mahogany, Brass, Glass
Measurements
210 x 148 x 270 mm
Order this imageCollection
Fox Talbot Museum, Wiltshire
NT 1524811
Summary
A Fallowfield Facile 'detective' style wooden box camera, made for Fallowfield by Miall. The camera is a polished mahogany box, designed to be concealed to take candid shots, and consists of an upper compartment with a grooved box acting as a magazine for up to 12 quarter-size plates, and a lower compartment with another grooved box behind the lens. A milled knob moves the boxes allowing the plates to drop one at a time into the lower box ready to be exposed. The front of the camera can slide up to reveal the f8 rapid rectilinear fixed focus lens, with wheel stops for f8/11/16/22, and the Newman & Guardia shutter. A metal hinged plate on top of the camera operates a sliding plate that conceals the viewfinder and lens when not in use, and a hinged plate on the camera side reveals a side finder. Markings; "Fallowfield's "Facile" 146 Charing X Road" on plate on the camera top; serial number 517 stamped inside the box
Provenance
Part of the Fenton Collection. A gift from British Film Institute in 2017. From 1986-1999, part of BFI collection for the Museum of the Moving Image. BFI purchased collection in 1986 from James Fenton's Museum of Photography, Port Erin, Isle of Man 1976-1986