1859 Rosewood Daguerreotype Table Top viewer 130 Photos

 Very Rare, 1859 Rosewood Daguerreotype Table Top Stereo-viewer patented and manufactured by Alexander Beckers.
It measures approx. 10 3/4" x 12" at the base and 19" tall. It is made entirely of beautiful, dark grained Rosewood with carved moldings and dual viewer eyepieces (allowing for use by two people at the same time), one fixed to the side of the viewer and the other mounted on a hinged wooden plate. You can pull down the eye piece plate and a frosted glass pane pops up, so a lantern or candle can illuminate the interior.

Some of the photographs are hand colored and have little pin holes in them, which I thought was some kid having fun. But to my amazement, the pin holes were purposely done by an artist so the light would shine through and make the images come alive. It is really cool!

The Metal label reads "Alex. Beckers / Patents / April 7, 1857 / March 15, 1858 / July 20, 1859 / December 13, 1859".
I believe the Viewer offered here is his finest example.

The top opens up and there is a silver finish that you can reflect light down into the viewer.
And there is a focus lever on the side, near the wooden knob that turns the spindle.

OK, now this viewer came right out of an attic and the only thing I did was wipe it down with a damp cloth because it was very dusty. So dusty that I could not tell it had beautiful wood grain finish.

I opened it up and was amazed to find about 125 pictures attached to a spindle - very clever how they did it. The photographs are all from the 1800's, including a cool one of our Nation's capital that looks really old!

There are nine that are hand colored and kind of like tissue with clever holes poked in them to allow for light to shine through.
And then there are about 110 more on the spindle of various places, people, even the owner's (I think). And then there is a group that was siting at the bottom, which were very dusty (see pic).

The bottom opens up like a trap door.
I did not take any of them out, and to be frank, I have no idea what I am looking at here.
?So you get a really cool table top viewer that was the "Best" of it's kind at the time.
About 115 to 125 photographs - You can count them yourself, I lost track twice :)
Again, nine of them are the hand colored type and one is made of glass. About 110 or so are regular photos I think.

There is hand writing on some of them in ink pen at the base or back. Some of them have studio or artists names as well.

The condition is "AS IS"… I am just selling it for someone. The piece needs some work to allow for smooth operation. It works OK now, spindle turns etc. BUT the eye piece plate that pulls down (to reveal glass plate) is very tight and stiff. Probably swelling of the wood over the years. There are minor cracks here and there but it is very strong and show nicely when I wiped it down.

I did not pull out the interior photographs and I really do not know condition of these things. Some have spotting, some are a bit warped.
But none of them have been messed with.

Shipping this piece:
It is Heavy ( About 25 lbs.) and the shipping will be expensive because I want to pack this in an oversized box, well wrapped, with lots of cushion.
So do not get upset with shipping charges!!!! It will take a lot of time to ship properly and I DO NOT charge a dime for my time.
Also - VERY IMPORTANT!!! Your advice is welcome regarding shipping because of the mechanism - I want it to arrive in the best possible
shape.
* So anywhere in the USA will cost $60.00 with Tracking - You can purchace insurance through Auctiva

** For outside the USA please contact me for costs

Questions? Email me at: dizneyart@aol.com

Payment: Pay Pal, Pay Pal e-Check, and other ebay accepted methods.

Packaging: I package each item extremely secure

Shipping: I will only ship by a TRACEABLE METHOD, i.e. USPS with Tracking or Insured Mail.

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