J Lancaster Le Merveilleux early folding field camera
J. Lancaster & Son
Category
Photographic technology
Date
1880 - 1905
Materials
Wood, Glass, Cloth, Brass
Measurements
190 x 203 x 264 mm
Place of origin
Birmingham
Order this imageCollection
Fox Talbot Museum, Wiltshire
NT 1524923.1
Summary
J Lancaster Le Merveilleux early folding field camera (1882), half plate size, with simple achromatic lens. Mahogany wood frame with separate baseboard to which front and rear standards are attached by screws either to the base or side for landscape or portrait formats. Square cloth bellows, hinged focusing slide which folds up over the camera when dark slide inserted. Simple achromatic lens mounted in brass housing with adjusting screw mechanism. Front lensboard has enameled plate inscribed J. Lancaster & Son. Birmingham and on the top edge a white enameled plate inscribed "Le Merveilleux". Baseboard allows full extension position approx 230mm or variable positions 108-- zero.using four brass securing screws.
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.
Makers and roles
J. Lancaster & Son , manufacturer