Record Details

Name/TitleFold­able Pan­to­scope, Rich Inlays, Luxe

About this objectA pan­to­scope is a com­pact, par­tial­ly fold­able view­er equipped with both stereo­scop­ic lens­es and a large mag­ni­fi­ca­tion lens, allow­ing the view­ing of both mono and stereo images. They were most­ly pro­duced ‘à dou­ble socle’ with a sim­ple rec­tan­gu­lar body, which allowed for eas­i­er adjust­ment of the view­ing angle, though more elab­o­rate shapes were some­times offered.
Pan­to­scopes were avail­able in a wide range of dec­o­ra­tive styles, includ­ing paint­ed designs, carv­ings, and inlays of wood, met­al, moth­er-of-pearl, and oth­er materials.

Place MadeFrance

Mak­erWyten­hove, Auguste

Mak­er Roleattrib­uted to

Date Madec. 1900

Tech­niqueSin­gle-view, manually

Tech­niqueFocus, car­ri­er

Peri­od1893–1939

Sub­ject and Asso­ci­a­tion Descrip­tionAlthough much of the his­to­ry of French stere­o­scope man­u­fac­tur­ers has been uncov­ered, the devel­op­ment of the Pan­to­scope remains obscure.
Pan­to­scopes are clear­ly the French response to Eng­lish Grapho­scopes. While we know that Mat­tey was the last man­u­fac­tur­er, lit­tle is known about the ori­gins. Mat­tey’s pre­de­ces­sors Fou­quet and Wyten­hove appear to have been involved in both the devel­op­ment and the cre­ation of the rich vari­ety of shapes and dec­o­ra­tive styles. How­ev­er, it is often impos­si­ble to deter­mine the man­u­fac­tur­er of a spe­cif­ic pan­to­scope. For the illus­trat­ed view­er, it’s quite cer­tain that it was made pre-Mattey.

For­matUni­ver­sal

Object TypeStere­o­scope

Medi­um and Mate­ri­alsopaque and transparent

Object num­berM‑ST040

Copy­right LicenceAll rights reserved