Magic lantern slide: Housemaid and chimney sweep

A magic lantern slipping slide showing a housemaid and a chimney sweep, made by an unknown artist in about 1870. The slide shows a housemaid cleaning the grate being surprised by the appearance of a chimney sweep. The first slide shows the housemaid cleaning the grate before the sweep comes down the chimney.

A slipping (or slipper) slide is designed to give movement to a still drawing to reveal something which was previously hidden. There are two main types of slipping slide, single and double. With the single slide, the action is produced by sliding one glass in front of another. - two glasses are mounted in a wooden frame, one of which is fixed and the other moves across it. The movable glass is called the slipping glass and can be moved usually into two final positions to mask off then reveal part of the image.