Express folding daylight enlarger.
Category
Photographic technology
Date
Unknown
Materials
Wood, Leathercloth, Canvas, Brass, Leather, Ivorine, Glass
Measurements
460 x 375 x 115 mm
Order this imageCollection
Fox Talbot Museum, Wiltshire
NT 1525157.1
Summary
Express folding daylight enlarger. Simple wooden box construction. The wood is substantial and the corners are joined with intricate finger jointing. The back of this box section is rebated to take the removable dark slide. there is a leather carrying handle on the top of the box and pins positioned to use the external stays to keep the box closed The front of the box opens to become the base of the enlarger and revealing a sliding mechanism that allows the base to extend. There are stays on either side to hold the slider mechanism at 90 degrees to the box body. There is a knurled knob on the right side of the base which secures the slide in position. There are three positions marked on the base board for the slider to be positioned, they are marked with ivory/ivorine discs numbered 1 - 3. On the front of the slider are two screws for the front board of the bellows to be attached and there are stays within the slid that hold the front board vertical. Mid way along the slider are three pairs of screws also marked with ivory/ivorine discs numbered 1-3. these screws are placed to hold the base of the board in the middle of the bellows and stays are provided on the side of the front board to keep this board vertical, these stays have three notches to allow for which position the board is placed. The canvas or leathercloth bellows are attached to the box just in front of the rebating for the dark slide. the bellows extend to the middle board which has a brass footplate designed to attach to two screws There are no markings on this board but it contains the lens which the BFI describes as "lens with cut-off shutter and stop, graduated enlarging lens". The bellows then extend further to the front board which bears an ornate transfer print label reading "Express Daylight Enlarger". This board is recessed and sprung to hold a plate, it also has a removable reducing plate.
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