- Subject
- Photography
- Item type
- Object
- Provenance
- Purchased from Dr. Reginald S. Clay with his collection.
- Object type
- Camera obscura
- Dimensions
- Height: 137mm Width: 178mm Depth: 3mm
- Inventory No
- 78618
- Accession Number
- 1944-1/part
Description
Reflex camera obscura, mahogany body, with hinged viewing hood, with lens cap; c. 1820.
The image projected by the lens is reflected by means of an inclined plane mirror onto the horizontal ground-glass screen. The screen is kept out of daylight by a hinged flap.
The most popular drawing aid before the advent of photography. Early photographers such as Fox Talbot and Robert Hunt used such camera obscuras in their experiments.
