Rod Bantjes, “Genus_Pyramids.html,” created 18 April, 2026; last modified, 18 April, 2026(https://people.stfx.ca/rbantjes/).
Pyramids Genus (ca. 1820 - 1850)
This pyramid genus of "optical machines" consists of toy versions of the 18th-century Trapez-Guckkasten. This style, with images lying at the bottom of the pyramid and enclosed on three sides, is not well suited to image-changes. Some of the toy versions have fixed images. Unlike the Trapez-Guckkasten these boxes have lenses that are too small to look through with both eyes. They therefore benefit only from the very weak monocular principle of 3D enhancement.
All of the known examples so far come from the Sang-de-Boeuf workshop
| Narrow Pyramid: |  |
| WN-GT456 |
These are elegant little boxes, even if limited in their visual effects.
| Wide Pyramid: |  |
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| SL-1820-03 | FB-BO-5005 |
SL-1820-03 is in the Antiq Photo, Paris archives, dated 1820. Photo © Antiq Photo.
FB-BO-5005 is in the François Binétruy Collection, dated 1800. Photo © François Binétruy.
| Trapez-Pyramid: |  |
| SL-1800-01 |
This box was sold by Antiq Photo, Paris.
Photo © Antiq Photo.