Rod Bantjes, “WN-GT135_Polyorama_Panoptique_Large.html,” created 10 August, 2025; last modified, 18 February, 2026 (https://people.stfx.ca/rbantjes/).
Polyorama Panoptique 24
Werner Nekes Collection, Theatre Studies, University of Cologne[1] #WN-GT135[2]
French, ca.1850
Dimensions: H=22 cm, W=26.3 cm, D=40.5 cm[3]
Lens: ⌀=8.1 cm, ƒ=72 cm
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Figure GT49.1 –Polyorama Panoptique 20 |
| Optical box for translucent, layered images designed by Henri Lefort. Photo © Rod Bantjes. |
This is a viewer for paper dioramas characterized by the soft bellows for adjusting the viewing lens. It is the second-largest of Henri Lefort's Polyoramas Panoptique. It is an example of an "optical machine " and is included in the Optical Machine Taxonomy.
The format of the paper diorama with this box in the Werner Nekes collection is H=19 cm, W= 24 cm and D=0.7 cm. The thickness reflects the wooden frame that holds the various layers of the image together. Other Polyoramas Panoptique use a 14.5 x 20 cm format that is only slightly narrower, but much less square.
The paper diorama image is both a dissolving view and an incendie. In other words, when the user decreases the front-illumination while increasing the back illumination, one view dissolves to be replaced by another. In this case the new scene has a building bursting into flames – the popular French incendie.
The papering of the body is in a narrow lozenge pattern typical of the large Lefort boxes, except this one is embossed rather than simply printed.
The box (without the paper diorama inserted) weighs 1.19 kg.
For more on Polyoramas Panoptique you can read my discussion of the one in the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum in Exeter, UK.
[1] I would like to thank Dr. Peter W. Marx for permission to access the collection and Charlene Fündgens, Emma Gebbeken and Gerald Köhler for their generous assistance in the archive..
[2] Based on Neke's numbering that will likely change once the Cologne Theatre Studies Department properly catalogues the collection..
[3] The device is 40.5 cm when the bellows is extended and 19.7 when it is compressed. These are somewhat arbitrary measures especially with these delicate bellows that one does not want to over-stress. The full depth measure does no include the open back-flap.