Brass Tent-Style Camera Obscura

Unknown Maker
ca. 1850s - 60s

Ex-collection Michael Kramer

Most cameras obscura were constructed of wood and projected an image onto a slanted mirror that reflected upwards onto a ground glass drawing surface.  (See wood camera obscura).

This brass tent-style camera is 5 1/2” tall and is reminiscent of those made in the early 19th century by famed French opticien, Charles Chevalier.  Typically, a tent-style camera obscura was attached to a wooden tripod and had a mirror and prism at the top which projected the image downward to paper on a sketching surface.  The artist would sit inside a dark cloth tent to eliminate extraneous light.

The maker of this brass camera obscura is unknown, but probably of French origin.