General Information

Serial #

54

Part Number

1

Total Parts

5

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

spruce (and possibly other woods) frame; leather covering, bellows and case handle; metal (including brass) hardware and fittings; imitation ivory details; glass lens

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

30.0 cm

Width

18.5 cm

Height

36.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Photography

Category

Still cameras

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Agfa Ansco

Country

United States of America

State/Province

New York

City

New York

Context

Country

United States of America

State/Province

New York

Period

Possibly mfd. c. 1891; believed used late 1800s-early 1900s.

Canada

Unknown

Function

To record still images.

Technical

Believed to be Marlborough model camera mfd. by E. & H.T Anthony & Co.. The Marlborough was the first portable self-cased camera which allowed the photographer to manipulate a plate inside the camera to change it's orientation without removing the camera from the stand. It featured a reversing, spring-loaded ground-glass back operated by a small knob at the back of the camera. By moving the knob, the photographer was able to adjust the angle of a photograph. The lens board was also adjustable: the photographer could raise or lower it, or swing it backwards or forwards. The reversing back and an adaptable lens board were fast adopted by other manufacturers. Marlborough cameras were made of spruce and were lighter than typical mahogany cameras of this period. In the 1890s, American Optical Co., owned by Scovill Mfg. Co. (and generally considered Anthony's competitor), also mfd. a camera with a reversing spring-loaded back. This model, called Irving-Clay, is said to be virtually identical to the Marlborough camera. There are no known sales of the Irving-Clay model and it is entirely possible that none of these cameras survived. Basing their opinions on a few existing advertisements and descriptions, the collectors and historians of photography accept as fact that the Irving-Clay model was exactly the same in design as the Marlborough, with one exception: the Irving-Clay was made of mahogany with brass hardware, and the Marlborough was made of spruce with nickel trim. This camera [2007.0004] combines the two elements: it is made of spruce with brass trim. This combination is not described in any trade literature and was not known to exist. Although it is impossible to be certain, the spruce body would suggest that camera 2007.0004 was manufactured by Anthony rather than Scovill. (Ref. 1)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

"54" stamped into frame of both lens board holder and bottom edge of lens board holder frame. "BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL CO.", 'PAT. JAN 91/ ROCHESTER, NY,/ NEW YORK [illegible]", "UNICUM" and shutter settings stamped into housing. [NB: lens board permanently fixed to camera front]

Missing

Camera appears complete. Possibly missing view finder. Camera outfit missing second revolving back

Finish

Black pebble-textured leather covering on wood case; leather handle; bright brass hinges and selected fittings; some fittings painted flat black; bright nickel-plated shutter housing ; maroon leather bellows; clear glass lens; bright lacquer finish over orange-red wood stain on selected interior wood surfaces; some interior wood surfaces painted flat black

Decoration

Simple fleur-de-lis motif tooled in corners of front and side panel borders.