Object Details

Stereoscope ‘Cosmorama’ on Stand, Burl Walnut, Brass Fittings, Luxe

Stereoscope ‘Cosmorama’ on Stand, Burl Walnut, Brass Fittings, Luxe

Historical Context

The Cos­mora­ma was man­u­fac­tured by George Knight & Sons, as well as by oth­er mak­ers, includ­ing Bur­field & Rouch.
George Knight Sr. formed George Knight & Sons togeth­er with his sons, George Jr. and Richard. The com­pa­ny man­u­fac­tured pho­to­graph­ic chem­i­cals and instru­ments and was an iron­mon­ger. After the death of George Sr., the busi­ness was con­tin­ued by his sons. The Cos­mora­ma of 1854 is a stere­o­scope with a dis­tinc­tive appear­ance that was designed and man­u­fac­tured by George Knight & Sons.
In 1855, the part­ner­ship between George Jr. and Richard was dis­solved, and the com­pa­ny con­tin­ued as George Knight and Co. until 1862. Fol­low­ing a bank­rupt­cy and the death of George Jr., the busi­ness was con­tin­ued by James How, who focused on the man­u­fac­ture of microscopes.

Details

The Cos­mora­ma is a large box-type stere­o­scope, most often seen mount­ed on a stand. The design was reg­is­tered on 15 Sep­tem­ber 1854, rather than patent­ed. The reg­is­tra­tion pri­mar­i­ly describes the use of two lens­es cut from a sin­gle larg­er lens. The most dis­tinc­tive fea­ture of the Cos­mora­ma is its curved front pan­el with Goth­ic-style win­dows sur­round­ing the lens­es. The view­er could have a hinged lid at the top, the rear, or both.

(from: Com­pendi­um of Stereoscopes)

Date Made

c. 1855

Place Made

Eng­land

Period

1850–1892

Type

Stere­o­scope

Designer

Knight, George

Manufacturer

Bour­field & Rouch

Technique

Sin­gle-view, man­u­al­ly; Focus, lens board

Format

8.5x17cm

Medium

opaque and transparent
Tags: 85x17cm luxe table­top

Addi­tion­al infor­ma­tion or cor­rec­tions are very wel­come. Please send an e‑mail to mail@stereoscopicmuseum.org.