Lot 431
'THE KINORA' VIEWER, BY KINORA LTD., LONDON
EARLY 20TH CENTURY
Auction: 4 September 2019 at 11:00 BST
Description
with a viewing hood and hand-cranked mechanism, fitted with maker's label, mounted on an oak base, with six boxed flipbook reels including nos. 39, 49, 79, 299, and 301
Dimensions
Base 30cm long
Footnote
Note: Invented in France by the Lumiere Company in 1895, the Kinora was patented in Britain and found huge success in middle-class homes at the advent of the motion picture era. Operating by a crank handle and using a flip book of photographic images, the apparatus rotates a reel of film into a 30-second sequence, often of travel documentaries, curiosities, and fantasy films. Moreover, reels could be made at photographic studios, adding to the appeal of the Kinora as a device that could eternalise family life which users could curate themselves.