Panoptique & Dioptrique Polyrama

Larger version of the Polyrama Panoptique, an optical toy which was popular from the 1820s through to the 1860s. It was invented by Pierre Seguin and is based on Daguerre's Diorama, of which it is a small-scale and simplified version. It consists of a portable box-camera designed to take printed and painted cards. The box is attached to a concertina device which carries the viewing lens. The illustration card is inserted at the back of the box and can be illuminated through one of the doors which allow the user to control the degree and direction of light. The viewer is complete and in good original condition, the fragile paper covering and bellows are nearly entirely intact and show only minor signs of wear - only on the right side a piece of paper is torn off. On top the original 'Polyrama Panoptique' label and the makers sticker. The Polyrama comes with 12 exceptionally beautiful printed cards which are hand-coloured on the back and pinpricked and cut to give day/night effects when illuminated from the front or the back. The illustration cards are mounted on wooden frames 24x19cm and have printed captions on the back. Among them 7 views of Paris including an aerial view of the 1855 Worlds Fair.