Marvellous Inventions

Magic lanterns are one of those wonderful inventions that conjure up images of Victorian audiences sitting in dark rooms marvelling at the scenes and spectacles projected for their entertainment. The precursor to the ‘moving picture’, the images contained on the glass slides could be amusing, frightening, educational and in some cases mechanically complex.

The use of light to produce images had been used since Roman times and perhaps earlier, but it was not until the 15th century that the first recorded use of a device to project an image was mentioned in Giovanni de Fontana’s Liber Instrumentorum. Later in the 17th century Athanasius Kircher, a German Jesuit priest, published Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, and discussed methods for image projections with the use of a convex lens. Further interest and advancement in optics in the 18th century led to the development of the magic lantern as we currently know it.

During the 18th century a whole industry emerged to create lanterns and their accessories. Advancement in the science of lenses, mirrors and light sources ensured that better projections were produced. One such use of this improved technology was for ‘Phantasmagoria’ shows whereby travelling showmen, such as the Belgian Etienne Gaspard Robertson, displayed terrifying scenes of ghosts and ghouls to scare and thrill audiences. In the early 19th century slide projections were also used for moral and educational purposes: ‘Galantee’ or ‘Savoyards’ toured the country telling Biblical stories, or recounting current affairs, with the use of slides.

Further innovations in the 19th century saw magic lanterns entering the home as they became cheaper to produce and therefore more affordable to the middle and upper classes. The 1870s and 1880s saw a flurry of lanterns hit the market to provide projections for all sorts of occasions, big or small, and by the end of the century more than thirty companies produced lanterns in London alone. Lanterns ranged from simple domestic devices to elaborate large format projectors for theatrical extravaganzas accompanied by musicians and sound effects.

Fierce competition between makers also ensured that a large variety of slides were created for new audiences. As early as the 17th century debates arose around creating a ‘standard’ size of slide, an argument which was never fully resolved, as many different sizes and shapes exist today. Examples of the variety include panorama slides, slipper slides, lever slides, rackwork and pulley slides, all creating different illusions or scenes. The entertainment of a slipper slide would not have been lost on 19th century audiences, as a sheet of glass is pulled away to reveal a hidden object. Similarly, the movement and colour displayed by chromatrope slides, akin to kaleidoscopes, are still very captivating to watch as the pulley handle rotates and the shapes move in sync. 

Date for your Diary

Auction | Fine Furniture & Works of Art | 31 January | 10am

Viewing | From Saturday 27 January at 12 noon onwards

Theo Burrell | theo.burrell@lyonandturnbull.com | 0131 557 8844