Lefort Boîte Simple 20

Museo Nazionale del Cinema Collection, Torino, Italy^[*] #MNC-M04936

France, ca.1848

Dimensions: H=16 cm, W=22 cm, D=31 cm

Lens: ⌀=4.5 cm, ƒ=33.5 cm

 

Figure MNC-M04936.1 – Lefort boîte
Lefort boîte depicted alongside the Polyorama Panoptique that superseded it in 1849. Photo © Rod Bantjes.

Figure M04936.2 – Lens and Paper Pattern
Photo © Rod Bantjes.

This is an early boîte d'optique from the workshop of Henri Lefort (1804-1880). It is an example of an "optical machine " and is included in the Optical Machine Taxonomy.

 

Like other Lefort boîtes this one is designed for Leforts' paper dioramas. The paper-diorama format for this box is 14.5 x 20 (hence the "20" in its designation).

 

The lens is turned to a typical pattern for this workshop: inner and outer double ridges separated by a valley (figure M04936.2). The green patterned paper is also typical, but the pattern varies. I will call this one the eixample grid because it reminds me of the plan of the Eixample in Barcelona: square blocks with "streets" that have centre-lines and dots at the intersections.

 

For more on these boîtes d'optique see my discussion of the one in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum in Exeter, UK.

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