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Stereoscope
underwood and underwood - Enlarge image
Stereoscope
- Place of origin:
USA, USA (made)
- Date:
1901 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
underwood and underwood (manufacturer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Oak, tin, glass and velvet
- Museum number:
E.27-2000
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 122b, case 3
Object Type
This stereoscope is typical of those used in Victorian homes for education and amusement. Stereographs were placed in the holder and then adjusted until the viewer saw the three dimensional effect. The strereograph is made from two photographs of the same subject taken from slightly different angles. An illusion of perspective and depth is achieved when the two images combine as seen through the stereoscope.
Materials & Making
Various types of stereoscopes were devised in the 19th century. This particular hand-held variety, based on a design by the inventor Oliver Wendell Holmes, was perhaps the most readily available and the simplest.
