Metal-cased Filoscope

Made:
London
maker:
Henry W Short

Optical toy: Metal-cased filoscope with printed kinetic subject including title, information, and descriptive, picture sheet numbered 2 -175 and fourteen blank end sheets. Most probably 'Street Scene, Westminster'.

Invented by Robert W Paul's (1869-1943) cameraman, Henry W Short, this was a small hand-held flip-book device, using a lever to flip over separate pictures to give the illusion of movement. Each filoscope contained a hundred or so frames reproduced from a professional film, many of them by Paul. They were marketed from 1897 onwards by the Anglo-French Filoscope Syndicate.

Details

Category:
Cinematography
Object Number:
1993-5011/2
Materials:
brass (copper, zinc alloy) and paper (fibre product)
type:
optical toy and filoscope
credit:
Christie's