Boite d'Optique

Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum (DFF)^[1] #DFF-90-A-351

French c.1850

Dimensions: H=11 cm, W=16 cm, D=25 cm

Lens: ⌀=2.4 cm, ƒ= cm

 

Figure 369.1 –Boite d'Optique
Optical box for translucent, layered images designed by Henri Lefort. Photo © Rod Bantjes.

This is a horizontal small-lens viewer for paper dioramas from the Lefort workshop. It is an example of an "optical machine " and is included in the Optical Machine Taxonomy.

 

It is a member of a species of plain, papered Lefort Boîtes best described here: Boîte EXBD. It differs from others in the species by having a front that is papered rather than varnished mahogany. It has a slightly smaller lens than the Exeter box and the lens frame is turned to a simpler pattern.