"The Improved Cosmorama" - Burfield and Rouch table-top Stereoscope.
Category
Photographic technology
Date
1854 - 1859
Materials
Wood, Brass, Glass
Measurements
112 x 202 x 170 mm
Collection
Fox Talbot Museum, Wiltshire
NT 1524976
Summary
"The Improved Cosmorama" - Burfield and Rouch table-top Stereoscope. Polished wooden walnut box with brass fittings. Achromatic Rack and pinion focusing lenses which can be adjusted from the side for viewing stereo pairs 9 x 18cm. At the back is a wooden panel which lifts up to allow viewing of transparencies through the rear ground glass screen inside. The top is hinged with a mirror mointed on its underside to adjust light falling on the photographs. At each side are brass knobs for the rack and pinion mechanism and the left handside has a brass slide (missing knob) to allow the box to be tilted for ease of viewing. There is a cream plaque on the top which reads: 'Improved Cosmorama Stereoscope. Manufactured by Burfield & Rouch, 180 Strand. Registered Sept. 15 1854.' The underside of the base has evidence of a stand having once been fixed beneath.
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.