Special
magic lanterns

The use of effect slides in a bi-unial lantern.

1880, France, Lapierre Frères, model Carré (See also: Magic Lanterns LaPierre). Produced in six sizes; green-red-gold painted metal, rich ornamented, pressed into a relief.

The Lampascoop was designed to be placed on top of a normal large oil lamp. The reflector at the back was about 3 cm thick and filled with sand, to serve as a counter-weight for the objective. 

1878, England, Tyler & Stackemann, Waterloo Road London. Seasoned mahogany body. 4 Panelled doors with sight holes. (see also: Magic Lanterns Tyler)

The double lantern was well adapted for exhibition purposes and made it possible to employ 'dissolving views' and other effects. Also a tri-unial or triple lantern was produced to obtain the greatest scale of effects and variations. (See also: Biunials)

1880, the Netherlands, Merkelbach & Co. Amsterdam. Wooden body and brass objective and slide holder.

It's not certain if Merckelbach constructed the lantern himself or that he only imported and resold it.

1899, Germany, Gebrüder Bing Nürnberg, type 'Bosco', with five disc slides. Body of browned messing plate, objective holder of cast zinc in a fish pattern. The discs are 12 centimetres in diameter. (see also: Magic Lanterns Gebrüder Bing)

Also other manufactures like Dannhorn, Plank en Aubert, produced lanterns for rotary slides.

1895, Germany, Johann Falk. Three sides are made of so-called 'Keramikfliesen', ceramic tiles, decorated with a floral design. One could choose from different flower motifs and two sizes; (see also: Magic Lanterns Johann Falk) the smallest was 22 cm, the biggest 32 cm high. Nickel-plated chimney. Claw feet. The access door on the tin back of the projector has the initials "D.R.G.M." embossed into the metal.

D.R.G.M. = Deutsche Reichs Gebrauchs Muster. (German patent.) 

photo ceramic lantern: ©Rob McElroy 2001

We don't know when and by whom this do-it-yourself lantern was built and whether it was used only in the living room, or for performances for a broad public. The robust sizes and the material that was used (solid metal plate) seems to indicate a professional use. Two, half-moon shaped discs in front of the lenses, make it possible to fade-in and fade-out the pictures.