Foldable Pantoscope ‘à double socle’, Metal Fittings

A 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.